Chelsea given route to finally complete Moises Caicedo transfer on one condition

Chelsea transfer news: Mauricio Pochettino has been told clearly how he can sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton this summer

Moises Caicedo was the main talking point of Roberto De Zerbi's Brighton press conference on Friday. The 21-year-old midfielder has been strongly linked with a summer transfer to Chelsea, but from De Zerbi's perspective he has been given no clear reason why Caicedo won't be playing his football on the south coast next season.

"No it's not true because I am coach, not owner, coach, not sporting director," he said. "Believe me, it is difficult to be a coach. In my work, I am used to speaking with my players every day, for every question, every part of life, not only football. But I didn’t give my word for nothing.

"We didn’t speak about the next transfer market window and for me, he is a player like the others. OK, we are Brighton and I can understand we have to sell any player at the end of the season like Mac Allister. But at the moment, I have not received news that Caicedo can leave tomorrow or in the next week. I start the next season with Caicedo in my head in the first 11, for sure.”

The 44-year-old was also quick to shut down questions Caicedo could be unhappy, he added: "I think no because Caicedo signed his contract in February and now we are in July and I can't imagine he can change his idea, no? He is honoured to receive other interest but he knows very well our club how they manage and we we will see what happens in the next week."

He added: "The situation is very clear, I think. At the moment Moises is a Brighton player. I spoke with Tony Bloom and he told me if the conditions don’t change, Moises stays with us."

Caicedo only resumed full training with Brighton this week and therefore it has been confirmed he will not feature for his current club against Chelsea in the Premier League Summer Series this weekend. One player who could be in action for Chelsea however, is Lewi Colwill, in his first fixture for the Blues since his loan spell at Brighton ended.

"I don’t like speaking about other players of other clubs," he added. "I speak about Caicedo because he is our player but Levi it is not my field. I am proud about Levi because he showed his quality in Europe with national team and I am very happy for him. I love him but it is not our player.”

Despite insisting he would not speak about Colwill, De Zerbi then made an interesting suggestion that would allow Chelsea to sign Caicedo and Brighton get something they clearly want in return. He said: “You have to ask me if Colwill wants to come in Brighton or not. You only only ask about Moises. I don’t know. There are two questions. Not only about Caicedo, also about Colwill, and maybe it can be [a swap].”

The idea of a swap deal is unlikely to appease Chelsea as it would result in losing a key player ahead of the new season. Wesley Fofana's serious injury also makes any transfer for a defender highly unlikely, even if it would help Chelsea obtain their priority summer target.