Chelsea have agreed a deal with Brighton worth a British record £115m for midfielder Moises Caicedo.
The Blues are understood to be paying an initial £100m, plus £15m in performance-related add-ons.
Caicedo has been granted permission by Brighton to have a Chelsea medical, which is expected to take place on Monday.
We take a deep dive into the story of Moises Caicedo, and why he warrants a British-record fee as he nears a move to Chelsea
The midfielder will sign an eight-year contract, with the option of a further year.
Brighton will have a sell-on clause that has been described as “significant” as part of the £115m deal to sell Caicedo.
The Blues will pay £100m up front for the midfielder, with £15m in add-ons.
Half of the add-ons have been described as “quite easily achievable”, while the other half are considered “much harder” to achieve.
Liverpool agreed a £111m deal to sign Caicedo earlier this week but the move fell through when the 21-year-old informed the club he intended to join Chelsea.
Caicedo had been expected to travel to Liverpool for a medical on Friday after Jurgen Klopp’s side had a bid accepted by Brighton following a midnight deadline for bids on Thursday.
But the Ecuador international had a change of heart and told Liverpool – who drew 1-1 at Chelsea in their opening Premier League game of the season on Sunday – he did not want to join.
Caicedo instead remained in London and made it clear he only wanted to leave Brighton for Chelsea, who have been pursuing him all summer.
FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League
The £115m fee eclipses the £106.8m Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez when breaking the British-record transfer fee in January.
Chelsea want to sign two midfielders this summer, with the west Londoners also close to an agreement with Southampton over the signing of Romeo Lavia, who remains a Liverpool target, too.
Klopp’s dig at Chelsea over transfers: What manager wants they get
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp couldn’t resist a little dig at rivals Chelsea when asked about the battle between the two clubs for the signing of Moises Caicedo
Jurgen Klopp had a dig at Chelsea after their 1-1 draw with Liverpool, suggesting whatever the current manager at Stamford Bridge wants, he gets, regarding transfers.
Following the stalemate between the teams on Super Sunday, Klopp was asked about his opposite number Mauricio Pochettino wanting more players in this window, which drew a reply of: “That’s what Chelsea managers want and they usually get it.”
Klopp also said after the game there was “no news at all” to report on the transfer of Caicedo.
Redknapp ‘shocked’ Caicedo turned Liverpool down
Former Liverpool midfielder and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp on the Essential Football Podcast:
“I’m obviously hugely biased in this one – but this is astonishing for me!
“Normally Liverpool would always, always win this one hands down. I just thought it was inevitable.
“I thought he would look great in that red kit. I thought he would be the perfect signing for Liverpool.
“I get the attraction of Chelsea. It’s a huge club. They’ve won so many things over the years.
“But I think in terms of the history of the clubs, I’m amazed, especially with Caicedo joining up with Alexis Mac Allister, I thought it would be a perfect move.”
Analysis: From tearful teen to in-demand star
In the wake of his country’s World Cup exit last year, when other players were jetting off to high-end holiday resorts, Caicedo was back in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, playing in a local tournament on the same dusty pitch he used as a boy.
In footage which went viral in the country, Caicedo, a rising star in the Premier League who had just become Ecuador’s youngest scorer at a World Cup, can be seen finding the net again, only this time as a ringer for Caicedos FC, a team made up of extended family members.
His goal, slotted in at the near post in ramshackle surroundings, helped Caicedos FC win the tournament and was celebrated with a leap, a fist pump and a gesture of recognition to the few hundred spectators sitting or leaning on fences around the pitch.
“This is Moises,” Miguel Angel Ramirez, Caicedo’s former coach at his boyhood club Independiente del Valle, tells Sky Sports with a smile. “Going back to his village, to his family, his friends, playing football, helping everyone there. He doesn’t forget his people…”
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