Moises Caicedo can dispel Chelsea transfer criticism with Brighton display to cement reputation

Moises Caicedo has been Chelsea's most consistent player in their recent upturn in form.

The Blues have won their last three matches in the Premier League – and have the chance to make it four in a row against Brighton on Wednesday. If they manage to record a four-game win-streak, it will be the first time Chelsea have done this since the start of their days under Graham Potter.

Potter led his team to three straight Premier League wins, where he took over from Thomas Tuchel, whose last match in the top-flight was a win against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge. Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping to achieve this rare feat with his Chelsea squad and he will be relying on Caicedo to continue his brilliant form he has shown in recent games.

After receiving a lot of criticism early on in his tenure at Stamford Bridge, Caicedo has improved drastically. The criticism was always going to come if any of his performances were sub-par or below because of his astonishing £115million price-tag. But not many outside of Chelsea seem to be talking about the Ecuadorian's transformation in recent matches.

Caicedo produced another man-of-the-match-worthy display against Nottingham Forest at the weekend. His off-the-ball work has never really been in question but he is beginning to show just what an asset he can be while in possession for the Blues as well.

His first-time, defence-splitting pass to Reece James, who in turn crossed the ball into Nicolas Jackson for the winning goal at the City Ground, was out of this world. The ball gets played to the 22-year-old in the semi-circle inside Forest's half, and he then plays a perfectly weighted pass for James to run onto and the rest is history.

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Because of the importance of the goal and the celebrations that followed, inside and outside of the ground, many seemed to forget about just how brilliant that pass from Caicedo was. That capped off what was another excellent display from the former Brighton midfielder ahead of his return to the Amex Stadium on Wednesday night.

Signing for a British record transfer fee from the Seagulls last summer, Caicedo has played more minutes than anyone else in a Chelsea shirt in his debut season at Stamford Bridge. The Ecuador international has played just short of 4500 minutes for the Blues and will surpass that total down on the south coast on Wednesday.

A lot has been said about Caicedo this season – and understandably so given the huge fee and expectations placed on his shoulders when he joined the club – but he is now beginning to answer his critics in emphatic fashion. While there will be people online with a microscope out ready to pick up on the smallest error from Caicedo, Chelsea supporters know they have a world-beater on their hands.