Chelsea: Moises Caicedo aims for last laugh over Jurgen Klopp as Mauricio Pochettino hopes patience pays off
Moises Caicedo will have a point to prove at Anfield tonight.
The Chelsea midfielder can expect a hostile reception after rejecting Liverpool for a move to Stamford Bridge last summer.
Liverpool agreed a £111million deal with Brighton but Caicedo told Jurgen Klopp he wanted to join Chelsea and went on to seal a British-record £115m switch to the Blues.
Chelsea also beat Liverpool to the £58m signing of Romeo Lavia and the Reds instead bought Wataru Endo for £15m.
While Caicedo's form is slowly improving, it has not been an easy first season for the Ecuadorian at Chelsea, and Klopp aimed a dig at him last month.
Speaking to thousands of Reds fans on the pitch at Anfield during a test event for the new Anfield Road Stand, Klopp said: "The summer we had… we had a few strange things happen in the transfer market. But here, between us, I can say… my god, were we lucky, eh?
"It didn't feel like it in that moment, but yeah I'm really happy that it worked out."
Having shown some encouraging signs of progress in recent matches, Caicedo will be out to show Liverpool what they missed out on as he prepares for a midfield battle with Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones.
Mauricio Pochettino admits it has not been easy to bring the best out of Caicedo. "Too many things delayed his adaptation to the team and to the club," said Pochettino, whose side can go seventh with a win tonight. "He didn't do a pre-season, he had problems when travelling for international duty.
There is no doubt he has the profile to be one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.
Mauricio Pochettino on Moises Caicedo
"When [Zinedine] Zidane went to Real Madrid, they paid a big amount of money and Zidane was 29. It took seven or eight months for him to perform because expectation is massive, and adaptation is difficult. The pressure is massive.
"Then all the circumstances delay his performance [level] a little bit, but there is no doubt he has the profile to be one of the best midfielders in the Premier League."
The unrest in Ecuador, where there has been a surge in violence linked to organised crime groups, has not helped Caicedo, who
Pochettino recently revealed has been "really worried" about the safety of his family back home.
But Pochettino believes Caicedo's quality is undeniable and is convinced he will come good. "Chelsea and Liverpool offered the same type of money [to Caicedo]" he said.
"He can still improve and, of course, in the last few performances we are doing well. But we are far from the expectations we created at the start of the season."