Moisés Caicedo
Moisés Isaac Caicedo Corozo (born 2 November 2001) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the Ecuador national team.
Born in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, the youngest of ten siblings, Caicedo would play football on the scrubland pitches of his hometown, the Mujer Trabajadora neighbourhood, where goals were marked out by piles of stones.
Career In Numbers
As of match played 19 May 2024
Journey to Stardom
My Career Path As a Professional Footballer
In 2016 one of his brothers brought him to Ecuadorian Serie A side Independiente del Valle for trials, which he successfully passed. Having suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his knee in 2017, he required a number of surgeries, and was out for a total of ten months. Caicedo recovered from the injury, and following his arrival at the club to manage the under-18 side in 2019, Yuri Solano stated that Caicedo’s athleticism “set him apart from the rest at that time”.
Later in 2019, Caicedo captained the Independiente del Valle youth team to the Copa Mitad del Mundo title, a youth tournament in Spain. Following this experience, he made his debut for the Independiente del Valle first team in a 1–0 Ecuadorian Serie A win over L.D.U. Quito on 1 October of the same year. First team manager at the time, Miguel Ángel Ramírez, would later say that “from the first day he trained with us, he was the best player in the squad”.
Such was his importance to the first team squad, Ramirez would have Caicedo flown back from an U-20 Copa Libertadores game in Paraguay to feature in a Serie A match against rivals L.D.U. Quito in 2020 – a game which Independiente del Valle won 3–2 – before returning to the under-20 squad to play in the 2020 U-20 Copa Libertadores final, where he shone in a win over Argentine opposition River Plate.
On 1 February 2021, Caicedo joined English side Brighton & Hove Albion on a four and a half year deal, for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for Brighton on 24 August starting in the EFL Cup second round away fixture at Cardiff City where he set up Andi Zeqiri’s first Albion goal in the 2–0 win.
On transfer deadline day of 31 August 2021, Caicedo joined Beerschot of the Belgium top flight on a season-long loan. He scored his first goal on his seventh appearance, a 90+2 minute strike to seal all three points in the 2–0 home win over Genk. On 12 January 2022, due to shortages of central midfielders at Brighton, Caicedo was recalled from his loan and returned to England.
He made his first appearance since returning and second overall for the Albion coming on as a substitute in the 3–1 away loss at Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourth round on 5 February. Caicedo made his Premier League debut on 9 April, starting and assisting Enock Mwepu’s goal in the 2–1 away win over Arsenal. He scored his first goal for the Albion on 7 May, opening the scoreline in a 4–0 win over Manchester United, with a 15th minute low 25-yard strike.
Caicedo scored his first goal in the 2022–23 season in his and Brighton’s sixth match of the season on 4 September, a 5–2 home win over Leicester City. During January 2023, Caicedo signed a new deal with a football agency company, and on 27 January, with interest coming in from league leaders Arsenal, his agents released a statement announcing he wanted to leave Brighton in an open letter on the player’s Instagram page. The letter stated that, “I am the youngest of 10 siblings from a poor upbringing in Santa Domingo in Ecuador. My dream always to be the most decorated player in the history of Ecuador”. Furthermore, Caicedo thanked Brighton fans, saying that they would “always be in my heart.” Caicedo was linked with Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Caicedo joined Chelsea on 14 August 2023, signing an eight-year contract, with the option of a one-year extension. Although the fee was officially undisclosed, it was reported to be worth a base transfer fee £100 million. This fee could potentially increase to approximately £115 million due to performance related add-ons, a British transfer fee record for a single player, which would surpass the £107 million fee paid by Chelsea for Enzo Fernandez.
On 20 August, Caicedo made his debut for his new club, coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute in a Premier League match against West Ham United. On 19 May 2024, the final match day of the Premier League season, Caicedo scored his first goal for Chelsea with a shot from 50 yards out, in a 2–1 win over AFC Bournemouth.
Caicedo debuted for the senior Ecuador national team in a 1–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying loss to Argentina on 9 October 2020. He scored the opening goal in a 4–2 home win over Uruguay on 13 October 2020 at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado.
On 14 November, Caicedo was named in Ecuador’s 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup alongside Brighton teammates Pervis Estupiñán and Jeremy Sarmiento. In the last group match tie against Senegal on 29 November, Caicedo scored the equaliser that would’ve seen Ecuador through to the round of 16. However, Kalidou Koulibaly scored for Senegal three minutes later to regain the lead and send the Senegalese through instead
Honors & Achievements
My personal & Professional accolades
Club Honors
Independiente U20
- 2020 U-20 Copa Libertadores Winners
Independiente del Valle
- Recopa Sudamericana runner-up: 2020
Chelsea FC
- EFL Cup runner-up: 2023–24
Individual Honors
Brighton & Hove Albion
- Player of the Season: 2022–23
- Players' Player of the Season: 2022–23
Fundación Niño Moi 23
A true hero of our community, Moisés Caicedo and his Moi Child Foundation 23! Moses contributing to the holistic growth of vulnerable and priority groups. Together, we write a chapter of hope and transformation.
