Moises Caicedo has had a slow start to life at Chelsea (Picture: Getty Images)
Moises Caicedo is yet to live up to his enormous price tag at Chelsea, but Mauricio Pochettino says even greats like Zinedine Zidane and Kaka have taken time to show their worth after huge transfers.
The 22-year-old moved from Brighton to Stamford Bridge in the summer for a fee which could total £115m, with Chelsea breaking the British transfer record they set themselves on Enzo Fernandez.
The Ecuadorian has already made 26 appearances in all competitions for the Blues but is yet to really put his stamp on the team and has certainly not looked like a player worth the amount paid for him.
He is still very young, though, and Pochettino remembers the likes of Zidane and Kaka needing some time to bed in when they got to Real Madrid before really starting to shine.
‘Remember when Zidane or Kaka went to Real Madrid, they paid a big amount of money,’ the Chelsea manager said.
‘Zidane was 26 or 27. I think it took seven or eight months for him to perform because expectation is massive and adaptation is difficult. The pressure is massive.
‘Moises didn’t do a pre-season, he had some problems when he was travelling for international duty. It’s too many things that delayed the adaptation to the team. Then, all the circumstances delay a little bit to perform.’
Caicedo is yet to live up to his enormous price tag (Picture: Getty Images)
Pochettino also noted the contrast to Bayern Munich spending £100m on a ready-to-go player in Harry Kane, compared to the expected development of Caicedo.
‘There is no doubt he has the profile to be one of the best midfielders in the Premier League,’ he said. ‘We are living in a different era today.
‘If you spend money like Bayern Munich did on Harry Kane, say £100million, after 10 years being the top scorer in the Premier League, it’s impossible he would move to another league and not score.
‘Now you want to sign a good player with the potential to be one of the best in their position. Sometimes in competition with another club we are seeing the same names and you need to spend money.’
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