Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca believes Moises Caiciedo now ranks alongside Rodri and Declan Rice as the best midfielders in the Premier League.
Caicedo had a lot of criticism for his early performances after joining Chelsea from Brighton for a Premier League record transfer fee of £115million in August last year.
But the 23-year-old has improved the longer 2024 has gone on and been one of Maresca’s best players since he took over as head coach in the summer.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who won the Ballon d’Or in October, and Arsenal’s counterpart Rice, were both voted in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for their displays during the 2023-24 campaign.
But Maresca insists Caicedo’s performances has now put him on a par with them.
“He is for sure now at that level. No doubt,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Rodri is injured (with a knee injury for the rest of the season) but Declan is playing. I think Moises can sit at that table with that kind of midfielder.”
Caicedo’s form is one of the reasons why Maresca feels Chelsea, who are second in the league table, have become less reliant on Cole Palmer to make the difference.
Former head coach Mauricio Pochettino urged the rest of the squad in April to show ‘this is Chelsea Football Club, not Cole Palmer Football Club’ due to the England international’s dominance on how the team played and their results
Chelsea are top scorers in the Premier League this season but have done so with Palmer scoring in just six of their 14 matches. He also went on a run of one goal in half a dozen league fixtures, yet Maresca’s team lost only one of those (Liverpool).
Maresca added: “If you remember in my first press conference I said that we cannot rely on Cole for every game because it is not correct. He has to enjoy football. But if we prepare the season thinking Cole is the only solution then we are wrong.
“The only thing I can say is that since we start, with the right side with Noni (Madueke) and Pedro (Neto) and the left side with Mischa (Mudryk) and Jadon (Sancho), Enzo (Fernandez), Cole, Joao (Felix) Christo (Nkunku), the attacking players are doing well.”
(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
