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23rd August 2023
01:55pm BST
Jurgen Klopp launched a 'charm offensive' of text messages to Moises Caicedo, only to receive a crushing reply from the player saying he only wanted to join Chelsea.
The Caicedo transfer saga was one of the most bizarre in recent years, and this is during a time where Saudi money is inflating the market from ridiculous to downright ludicrous.
Liverpool had been chasing the signature of Roman Lavia, the Southampton youngster who plays primarily as a centre defensive midfielder.
However, after months of refusing to pay the asking price, and continuously bidding just below it, that signing appeared to be less and less likely.
Then, seemingly out of the blue, Liverpool had reportedly bid well over £100m to sign Caicedo, Brighton's CDM, and planned on breaking the British transfer record in the process.
They went from being overly tight with the purse strings, to splashing the cash for everyone to see, much to the relief of Liverpool fans who were growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of funding from their owners FSG.
However, despite everything seeming done and dusted with only a few formalities left to complete, it was announced that the midfielder would not be joining the Reds, choosing instead to join Chelsea.
The Athletic reports that during this time Klopp had "launched a charm offensive" with a series of texts to Caicedo telling him how much he admired him and how much he wanted the player in his team.
This is actually a pretty common occurrence when managers are after a player
However, Caicedo responded to the German native stating that he respected him and the club, but was only interested in joining Chelsea.
Just to compound matters, their original target, Lavia, then decided to make the move to Stamford Bridge as well, leaving Liverpool fans feeling like they have been highjacked.
Klopp responded by signing Wataru Endo from Stuttgart to help fill that void in the team, and is still on the look-out for a more long term solution.
Meanwhile, Caicedo made a nightmare debut for Chelsea last weekend during their 3-1 defeat to West Ham, where he came off the bench to give away a crucial penalty.
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