TNT Sports
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino believes Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia chose The Blues because of 'something special'
By
Published 18/08/2023 at 18:15 GMT+1
Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo have both turned their backs on moves to Liverpool and have instead chosen to join Chelsea. It comes as The Blues' transfer spending under Todd Boehly has almost reached ÂŁ1billion. And Mauricio Pochettino has congratulated the owners on the new signings while also claiming he believes Lavia and Caicedo joined Chelsea because "they felt something special".
Pochettino lauds Chelsea signings but jokingly warns players 'I am not your friend'
Video credit: SNTV
Mauricio Pochettino has claimed the reason why Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia decided to join Chelsea was because they "felt something special" about the club.
It’s been a busy week in the transfer window for the London outfit who saw off competition from Liverpool, not once but twice in the past four days, with both Caicedo and Lavia opting to join The Blues instead of the Merseyside outfit.
During a press conference Pochettino fielded plenty of questions about his new signings, admitting that he was excited to have them both at the club while emphasising that it was the players who made the call to join Chelsea.
"It is their decision if they come here. It wasn't a competition, it was a player's decision to join us,” The Blues boss said in a press conference on Friday.
“That makes us very happy and they talk very highly about our owners and our sporting directors in the way that they work.
"The players wanted to come here because I think they are feeling something special. I hope they are feeling something special."
Chelsea have reportedly paid out a combined ÂŁ175 million for the midfield duo.
The majority of that figure comes from the deal to sign Caicedo, who will join on a British transfer record of ÂŁ115m, with Lavia costing the Blues ÂŁ60m on top of that.
The signings will take Chelsea’s spending under Todd Boehly just shy of the £1billion mark and Pochettino congratulated the club’s owners, claiming the club had done an excellent job of getting both deals over the line.
"The club worked really, really hard about that,” he said. "I have to congratulate the owners and the sporting directors Laurence [Stewart] and Paul [Winstanley] because the deal was amazing.
"To add these type of players like Moises or Romeo, I think it was fantastic work from the club and I think we need to congratulate the job they are doing."
Speaking on Lavia, he added: "We all know him, his quality, his profile. I think he is the perfect player for this project. We are excited and we are so happy to add him to the squad."
Despite falling short of the two midfielders, Klopp’s side have bolstered their options in the middle of the park by announcing the signing of holding midfielder Wataru Endo from Stuttgart.
Klopp also gave an insight into how the last few days have been trying to bolster their midfield options and while admitting his delight at acquiring the Japan international, he conceded that the last week has been particularly difficult after missing out on Caicedo and Lavia.
“I'm really happy we can announce the agreement,” the Liverpool boss said.
“I am from Germany, I watch a lot of Bundesliga, I've known him since he was at Stuttgart and liked him from the start. Last week was a tricky one. You can either stick with the problem or find a solution."
Interestingly, while Chelsea have been able to spend big in the last year on new players, Klopp claimed that it has been harder to lure players to Anfield because of how much money other clubs have.
“Everything is more difficult. There are a lot of things that are different, some clubs have a different way to do it and somehow it works. As a normal club, it's really difficult to catch up with them. That's not my problem, just how it is.
“Saudi Arabia, on top of that, hasn't made things easier. China tried it, USA still trying it. The endless money causes a problem, that's how it is. It would be cool if someone could find a solution.
“It became more difficult, but not to convince players to come to Liverpool. You just have to make sure you go for the right ones.
“I sit here and I'm really happy with our transfer window in this moment. We will keep looking, we will try to make the best decisions for this club and we will not use money or anything else as an excuse."
How to watch Man City v Newcastle?
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
Man City v Newcastle will be live on TNT Sports 1 from 19.00 UK time on Saturday, 19 August.
You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
- - -
TNT Sportspresents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement