The Red Devils pursued the Ecuador midfielder when he was 19 but walked away from a potential deal in what now looks like a terrible oversight
Manchester United will come up against Moises Caicedo for the fourth time when they visit Brighton on Thursday, and the midfielder will no doubt be relishing the opportunity having dominated the Red Devils on each previous occasion.
The Ecuador international scored the opening goal in the Seagulls' rampant 4-0 win towards the end of last season, and on the opening day of 2022-23, he masterminded Brighton's 2-1 win at Old Trafford that spoiled Erik ten Hag's competitive debut in charge of United.
He put in another excellent display at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final as Roberto De Zerbi’s side dominated the ball and had the better chances in the 0-0 draw before narrowly losing on penalties.
Watching those matches must have been particularly hard for United’s recruitment department, as the club had followed Caicedo since he was a teenager and were on the verge of signing him from Independiente del Valle in 2021.
GettyMissing out on a star of the future
United eventually backed away from the the deal three weeks before the January transfer window shut, allowing Brighton to roll in on deadline day, paying just £4.5 million to bring the youngster to England.
Two years on, and after Brighton rejected a £70 million bid from Arsenal for the midfielder, it looks like an inspired piece of business, who are the envy of European football when it comes to recruiting top players for low fees.
United, meanwhile, yet again failed to follow their instincts and take a gamble, missing out on a star of the future who could have ran their midfield for the next decade.
AdvertisementGettyPut off by agents' commissions
At the time, United felt the transfer was too complicated to complete as it involved a host of intermediaries and agents all demanding commissions. More than one agency claimed to represent the midfielder, and it was unclear who truly represented him and who was just looking to make a small fortune off the deal. The reported that United felt the deal was “too messy” and described it as a “clusterf*ck”.
While United are not immune to paying large commissions to agents, they do not pay out nearly as much as their rivals. They spent £24m on agents’ fees last year, less than half the amount of Manchester City, and considerably less than Chelsea and Liverpool.
It is perhaps understandable that they were unwilling to pay through the nose on commissions for an untested player who they would likely have had to send out on loan, as Brighton did when they signed him and then promptly sent him to join Belgian side Beerschot.
GettyPaying for their mistake in the long run
Brighton made the most of their previous connections with Independiente, having signed Billy Arce from the Ecuadorian side in 2018. And the agents' fees can’t have been that high. Brighton spent the fourth-lowest amount on agent fees in the Premier League in 2021, a total of £6.2m, contrasting with the £29m United spent that year.
And whatever fee was involved pales in comparison to the amount of money United have paid in overspending on players. The same month they turned down Caicedo, they signed Amad Diallo for £37m. The Ivorian forward has made only three appearances for United since and had a highly disappointing loan spell at Rangers, although he has impressed while on loan at Sunderland in the Championship this season.
United's failure to get a proper holding midfielder after missing out on Caicedo led them to accepting two-and-a-half more years of the infamous Fred and Scott McTominay midfield partnership, until they were left scrambling around for a proper midfielder towards the end of the 2022 summer window, leading them to sign Casemiro for £60 million.
While United fans have fallen in love with the serial winner from Brazil, he turned 31 in February and realistically only has two or three more seasons left at the peak of his powers. When he does leave, he will have little sell-on value. The opposite, though, can be said of Caicedo, who signed a new deal with Brighton until 2027 and could command a transfer fee as high as £80m when he eventually moves on.
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Getty ImagesSimilarities with missing out on Haaland
Caicedo is far from the only high-profile youngster United have pursued but failed to land. They had followed Erling Haaland since 2018 when he was playing for Molde, where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was manager, but were too slow to act, and the precociously talented striker, advised by Mino Raiola, went to Red Bull Salzburg instead.
When Solskjaer was managing United a year later, the club made a big move to sign him, with the Norwegian coach meeting his compatriot Haaland and his representatives in December 2019. Two weeks later, though, Borussia Dortmund won the race for the striker, signing him for around £17m.
United had bad memories of dealing with Raiola from their experience with Paul Pogba, and according to reports the agent insisted on inserting a buyout clause into any potential deal, allowing the representatives to control any future sale, rather than United.
Dortmund were more flexible about inserting a buyout clause into their transfer, which led to Man City signing Haaland for only £51m in the summer of 2021. Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke later admitted the clause was a determining factor in Haaland heading to Germany rather than Manchester at the time.