Midfielder · #25

Moisés Caicedo

Ecuador · 5'10" · 24

$136M

From Brighton & Hove Albion

$273K

per week

Apps

Goals

Assists

His role

The Destroyer

Caicedo is the midfield destroyer. He hunts down counterattacks, wins the ball before danger reaches the defence and can carry or pass through pressure once he has it. That combination lets the more attacking midfielders take risks around him.

His story

01
Hot take
The best defensive midfielder in the world
That is the argument, and the numbers give it weight: Caicedo shared the Premier League lead with 59 interceptions in 2025/26 while becoming the player Chelsea could least afford to lose. This is a position the club understands better than most. Claude Makélélé gave the role his name, N’Golo Kanté turned ball-winning into the engine of title-winning teams, and Caicedo is the modern heir to that line.
02
Off the pitch
The goals were piles of stones
Caicedo was the youngest of ten children and learned football on scrubland in Santo Domingo's Mujer Trabajadora neighbourhood, with piles of stones marking each goal. A local coach, Iván Guerra, helped pay for his boots, food and travel when the family could not. Caicedo now runs the Niño Moi foundation in the same community.
03
Record
Nobody in the league wins the ball back more
Caicedo led the entire Premier League in both tackles and interceptions in 2025/26. That followed consecutive Player of the Season awards at Brighton and Chelsea, then the Bronze Ball as the third-best player at the 2025 Club World Cup. The £115m midfielder became the person Chelsea could least afford to play without.
04
Drama
The £115m fee became a punchline
Chelsea beat Liverpool to Caicedo in 2023 and committed up to £115m, a British transfer record. For a difficult first season, the price became shorthand for everything people thought Chelsea were doing wrong. He played his way out from under the joke, became one of the first names on the team sheet and signed a new contract through 2033.