Summary Liverpool's pursuit of Moises Caicedo from Brighton has fallen short as the player prefers Chelsea. As a result, the Reds could sign a different Premier League midfielder. That man could set FSG back a whopping £70m, although that is cheaper than Caicedo.
Liverpool have ostensibly fallen short in the race to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion despite reaching an agreement for a British-record £111m transfer.
The Ecuadorian midfielder's preference has always been Chelsea and the Stamford Bridge side are actively seeking to reach an agreement to lure the player to west London.
This leaves Liverpool desperate to land a new holding midfielder, and with the Blues remarkably also looking to steal Liverpool's No. 1 target in Southampton's Romeo Lavia, Cheick Doucoure could be the man to complete Jurgen Klopp's summer rebuild.
Who are Liverpool going to sign?
Crystal Palace have been seeking to ward off interest in their Malian midfielder this summer after reports emerged in July that the Reds had earmarked the No. 6 after Fabinho completed a £40m move to Al-Ittihad.
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BBC Sports' Alex Howell claimed that the Eagles would only entertain Doucoure's sale for a "minimum fee of £70m", and whether FSG would meet such a high fee remains to be seen.
How good is Cheick Doucoure?
Doucoure only arrived on English shores one year ago, signing for Crystal Palace from French outfit Lens in a £21m deal, but he has been excellent for the Premier League side and has been praised as "the complete holding midfielder" by former boss Patrick Vieira.
The 23-year-old is both tough-tackling and composed in possession, boasting impressive retention skills and a 'complete' sheen to his game.
As per Sofascore, he recorded an average rating of 6.97 across his first Premier League season, completing 84% of his passes, making 1.1 shots, 0.8 key passes, 2.3 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per outing, also succeeding with 55% of his ground duels.
Comparatively, Caicedo recorded an average rating of 7.07 for the high-flying Seagulls, completing 89% of his passes, forging 0.8 shots, 1.2 key passes, 2.7 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game and succeeding with 57% of his ground duels. Indeed, those stats are clearly very similar.
As is evidenced, there is a semblance across many of the facets of the respective players' games, and while Caicedo might be more refined at present, Doucoure's maiden term in England is as encouraging as it is impressive.
While Liverpool might miss out on Caicedo, who has been described as a "physical monster" by Dr. Rajpal Brar, Doucoure would slot right into Klopp's midfield and provide Anfield with the anchor it needs to craft a successful season.
Indeed, he has been hailed for his "combative, intelligent and consistent" performances by talent scout Jacek Kulig, and he certainly offers the tenacity Liverpool need, ranking among the top 5% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for interceptions per 90, as per FBref.
Caicedo, admittedly, ranks superlatively across a number of metrics, namely among the top 6% of midfielders for pass completion, the top 13% for tackles and the top 12% for interceptions per 90, but he is not the only adept defensive midfielder around, and Doucoure's impact would most certainly be felt on Merseyside.
It's worth noting that Doucoure could also be signed for some £30/40m less than the Brighton machine, which could free up valuable space and resources to make another swoop to further bolster the squad, which could prove to be paramount as Liverpool and their owner, John W Henry, look to get back on their perch this year.
