Chelsea still looking at Brighton midfielders Moisés Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister — report

Having struck out with Enzo Fernández, Chelsea are looking at potential alternative signings in midfield, including Moisés Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister.

The Brighton duo were already linked even before the start of the transfer window, so The Guardian’s latest report isn’t covering any new ground, but it’s perhaps a more relevant story now given the aforementioned failure of our Enzo pursuit.

Adding further urgency to the situation are Chelsea’s continuing underperformance (to be kind) on the pitch, and our continuing habit of picking up injuries. Denis Zakaria, who had emerged as the one semi-consistent midfielder in the squad over the past few weeks, had to be withdrawn last night after a quad problem, and seems likely to be out for a while. And if we’re looking slightly longer-term, the uncertain futures of Jorginho and N’Golo Kanté are two more factors to consider, especially as the former looks likely to be leaving and the latter may still be weeks, if not months away from returning from injury (and has his own contractual situation to consider).

Obviously, neither Mac Allister nor Caicedo would be easy or cheap to acquire. Mac Allister was handed a new deal through 2025 right before winning the World Cup with Argentina, while Caicedo is also a Liverpool target. And with Brighton in contention for European places, they will not want to lose either.

That said, we do have to address our midfield — it should be our primary concern in fact — so if we are going to spend even more ridiculous sums, it might as well be at that position!