Theo Walcott wishes Arsenal signed £100m star ahead of Chelsea
Arsenal hero Theo Walcott (Picture: Sky Sports) Chelsea have made a number of questionable signings in recent years but Theo Walcott wishes one had ended up at Arsenal. The Blues have spent over £1bn on new signings over the past three years but several have proved to be expensive flops. £89m signing Mykhailo Mudryk, for example, has scored just five league goals for the club, while £52m recruit Christopher Nkunku looks set to leave Stamford Bridge this summer. Chelsea fans were wondering if the club had made another transfer mistake during Moises Caicedo’s difficult first season at the club. The Blues beat Liverpool to a £100m deal for Caicedo but the Ecuador international initially struggled to replicate the form he had shown at Brighton. Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. Caicedo has produced some of his best form this season, however, emerging as one of Chelsea’s most consistent players during a mixed campaign. Walcott is a ‘huge fan’ of Caicedo and says his only issue with the Chelsea midfielder is that he plays in the ‘wrong shirt’. Chelsea signed Moises Caicedo from Brighton in 2023 (Picture: Getty) ‘For me, Claude Makelele is one of the best midfield players in that position that’s ever lived,’ the Arsenal hero told the Premier League’s YouTube channel. ‘A bit before [N’Golo] Kante. Kante took Makelele’s throne to some extent. But he [Moises Caicedo] is as close as you’re going to get to the modern era of that position. He can fill the right-back position as well. ‘You talk about the price tag, but it doesn’t faze him. It can take a little time to adapt to a new club but he’s an absolute rock. ‘Sadly for me, he’s in the wrong shirt! I’m a huge fan of his because he unlocks the door for people like Cole Palmer to do their thing. Caicedo flourished at Brighton before joining Chelsea (Picture: Getty) ‘He’s an extra man in that midfield, maybe two or three, that’s how good he is.’ Last week, Liverpool title winner Alexis Mac Allister named Caicedo as his ‘toughest opponent’ in the Premier League. After putting Caicedo narrowly above Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Manchester City’s Rodri, Mac Allister said: ‘I’ve shared a dressing room with Moi, fantastic player, really good physically. ‘The main thing I’m going to say here is physically the most hardest part against these players, I would put Caicedo first. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page ‘He is very complete, on and off the ball he’s really, really good. Declan second, he’s a top player and Rodri third. ‘This doesn’t mean that I don’t rate Rodri, it’s the complete opposite, I think he earned the Ballon d’Or for example. ‘He’s a fantastic player but he’s not the hardest opponent because he’s never on the ball, he always plays one or two touches, so you cannot even get near him. ‘If you ask me who is the better player, I would say Rodri but the toughest player to play against is Moi Caicedo.’ Asked if he knew his former Brighton teammate would make an impact in the Premier League, Mac Allister replied: ‘Yeah, I was really surprised when he went on loan to Belgium. ‘I was really surprised because I was watching him in training and I felt like he was ready to play, but at that time they thought it was a good idea to send him on loan, he wanted that because he wanted to play as well. ‘But I always thought that he was going to be amazing.’ Caicedo will hope to finish the season by firing Chelsea to Europa Conference League glory and helping the Blues qualify for the Champions League. Enzo Maresca’s side boosted their top-five hopes with a 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday and are now preparing for a Europa Conference League semi-final against Swedish minnows Djurgardens. For
Chelsea have made a number of questionable signings in recent years but Theo Walcott wishes one had ended up at Arsenal.
The Blues have spent over £1bn on new signings over the past three years but several have proved to be expensive flops.
£89m signing Mykhailo Mudryk, for example, has scored just five league goals for the club, while £52m recruit Christopher Nkunku looks set to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.
Chelsea fans were wondering if the club had made another transfer mistake during Moises Caicedo’s difficult first season at the club.
The Blues beat Liverpool to a £100m deal for Caicedo but the Ecuador international initially struggled to replicate the form he had shown at Brighton.
Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
Caicedo has produced some of his best form this season, however, emerging as one of Chelsea’s most consistent players during a mixed campaign.
Walcott is a ‘huge fan’ of Caicedo and says his only issue with the Chelsea midfielder is that he plays in the ‘wrong shirt’.
‘For me, Claude Makelele is one of the best midfield players in that position that’s ever lived,’ the Arsenal hero told the Premier League’s YouTube channel.
‘A bit before [N’Golo] Kante. Kante took Makelele’s throne to some extent. But he [Moises Caicedo] is as close as you’re going to get to the modern era of that position. He can fill the right-back position as well.
‘You talk about the price tag, but it doesn’t faze him. It can take a little time to adapt to a new club but he’s an absolute rock.
‘Sadly for me, he’s in the wrong shirt! I’m a huge fan of his because he unlocks the door for people like Cole Palmer to do their thing.
‘He’s an extra man in that midfield, maybe two or three, that’s how good he is.’
Last week, Liverpool title winner Alexis Mac Allister named Caicedo as his ‘toughest opponent’ in the Premier League.
After putting Caicedo narrowly above Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Manchester City’s Rodri, Mac Allister said: ‘I’ve shared a dressing room with Moi, fantastic player, really good physically.
‘The main thing I’m going to say here is physically the most hardest part against these players, I would put Caicedo first.
‘He is very complete, on and off the ball he’s really, really good. Declan second, he’s a top player and Rodri third.
‘This doesn’t mean that I don’t rate Rodri, it’s the complete opposite, I think he earned the Ballon d’Or for example.
‘He’s a fantastic player but he’s not the hardest opponent because he’s never on the ball, he always plays one or two touches, so you cannot even get near him.
‘If you ask me who is the better player, I would say Rodri but the toughest player to play against is Moi Caicedo.’
Asked if he knew his former Brighton teammate would make an impact in the Premier League, Mac Allister replied: ‘Yeah, I was really surprised when he went on loan to Belgium.
‘I was really surprised because I was watching him in training and I felt like he was ready to play, but at that time they thought it was a good idea to send him on loan, he wanted that because he wanted to play as well.
‘But I always thought that he was going to be amazing.’
Caicedo will hope to finish the season by firing Chelsea to Europa Conference League glory and helping the Blues qualify for the Champions League.
Enzo Maresca’s side boosted their top-five hopes with a 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday and are now preparing for a Europa Conference League semi-final against Swedish minnows Djurgardens.
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