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€100m Stamford Bridge star
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Chelsea go into Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Qarabag with high hopes of extending their impressive run of form in all competitions. Aside from a surprising 2-1 defeat to Sunderland in the Premier League last month, Enzo Maresca’s side have won each of their last six games, which has seen the West London club climb to seventh in the English top-flight and 11th in the Champions League league phase.
A number of players have stood out for the Stamford Bridge side. New signings Estêvão and João Pedro have added a new dimension to Chelsea’s attack, while attacking midfielder Enzo Fernández looks to be playing his best football since joining the club in 2023. But perhaps the most notable improvement from any player among Maresca’s squad this season has been none other than Moisés Caicedo. Long considered one of the Premier League’s most astute defensive midfielders, the Colombian talent has stepped up his game in recent months and now looks like a potential world class star with far more to offer than simply tackles and interceptions.
Caicedo reaching new heights for Chelsea this season
There’s little doubt that Caicedo remains one of the best players in the Premier League when it comes to hunting down opposing midfielders in the middle of the pitch and snuffing out counter attacks. According to Opta, the 24-year-old talent is top of Maresca’s squad for tackles, interceptions and blocks in the league this season. But what has Chelsea fans so excited about the midfielder’s performances in recent months is how he’s coupled his stalwart, defensive duties with additional attacking threat in the final third.
For example, in his first 14 games of the season in all competitions, Caicedo has already bagged four goals and one assist. That assist came in the club’s slender 1-0 win over Tottenham at the weekend, when the midfielder harassed the Spurs backline with an interception against Micky Van de Ven and slid the ball into the path of Pedro to score the winning goal. As we can see from the graph above, Caicedo is now averaging 0.41 goals and assists per 90 minutes in all competitions this season, which is more than at any other point in the last five seasons.
What’s perhaps most notable about Caicedo’s attacking numbers is the manner in which they’ve steadily risen since he made the move to the Premier League with Brighton back in 2021. And as he’s grown with experience, Caicedo has clearly grown far more comfortable with the concept of not only defending his own goal but also with his clear ability to attack the opposing one. Which, in turn, has made the Chelsea talent one of the most exciting box-to-box players in the Premier League this season and seen his market value rise steadily from €75 million in May of last year to now standing at an impressive figure of €100m.
