Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed on Friday the Reds have reached an agreement with Brighton for the transfer of Moises Caicedo, for a reported British record fee of £110 million ($215m).
However, Sky Sports reported that the 21-year-old Ecuador international is still to decide his future with Chelsea also interested.
Caicedo had been a long-standing target for Chelsea, but Liverpool stole a march on the Blues after Brighton set a deadline for bids on Thursday evening.
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The reported fee would surpass the previous British record of £107 million that Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez in January.
It would also represent another huge profit for Brighton, who signed Caicedo from Ecuadorean side Independiente del Valle for just £4 million in 2021.
“I got told I can confirm a deal with (Brighton) is agreed,” Klopp said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Chelsea on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
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Klopp has previously criticised the idea of spending £100 million on a single player, but admitted he has had to change his approach due to spiralling transfer fees.
He added: “Everything changed. Do I like it? No. Did I realise I was wrong? Yes.
“I’m not blaming anyone but it’s just the market. In the end, we as a club have to make sure that, with our resources, we get the best possible player.”
Liverpool backed out of the bidding for Jude Bellingham earlier in the window as the England international joined Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund for an initial fee of 100 million euros.
But Klopp said the unexpected departures of captain Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabia for a combined fee of £52 million had changed their transfer plans.
“We are a club with not endless resources, so things we didn’t expect, a couple of things happening in the summer,” said Klopp.
“We didn’t think about that before the summer, to be honest and when it happened, we gave it a go and obviously, the club was really stretched there, to be honest.”
Caicedo could be reunited with Alexis Mac Allister, the Argentinian World Cup winner who left Brighton for Anfield in June.
Hungarian international Dominik Szoboszlai is Liverpool’s only other signing of the window so far.
