More than Declan Rice! Midfielder finds a new club as Chelsea are beaten by Liverpool with astonishing bid

However, although Caicedo was due to travel to Liverpool for medicals on Friday, he remains in London.

Chelsea, who have been chasing Caicedo all summer, have not given up hope of bringing the Ecuador international to Stamford Bridge, although they are yet to offer a new improved bid. It is understood Chelsea were prepared to go as high as £100m on Thursday for the player.

Brighton have set a deadline of midnight on Thursday for offers to come in – and, provided their valuation was met, they would accept the highest offer.

Liverpool formally submitted their bid late on Thursday evening after Caicedo indicated his willingness to move to Anfield.

“The fee with the club has been agreed,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed at his press conference on Friday. “We will see what it means. We are not a club with infinite resources and we didn’t expect some things to happen this summer. Then it happened.”

As reported by Sky Sports News, Liverpool were in discussions with Brighton to determine the full financial parameters of a deal in case Chelsea were unable or unwilling to agree.

Liverpool were informed just after midnight that they were, in fact, the biggest interested party. Personal terms with Caicedo have been agreed and planning for all the formalities of a transfer is under way.

Brighton signed Caicedo for £4.5m from Independiente del Valle in 2021. Bayern Munich were also interested in signing him, indicating they would pay £90m.