Liverpool will hope the transfer decision will not come back to haunt them after the deal was announced

And if Chelsea are to secure their first win at Anfield since 2021, they will need the man Liverpool snubbed in favor of a move to Stamford Bridge to be at his best. Caicedo was at the center of one of last summer’s most gripping transfer sagas, despite his move to Chelsea having seemed a done deal for some time.

The Blues’ inability to strike a deal with Brighton & Hove Albion opened the door for Liverpool and, seemingly out of nowhere, Klopp’s side had a £111 million bid accepted for the Ecuadorian international. “First and foremost, I was told that I can confirm that the deal with the club has been completed,” the German said at the time.

“We want the player. Let’s take it step by step. Let’s see what happens in the next hours or days and then we will have enough time to talk about it.”

What happened in the ensuing hours and days, as it turned out, became part of Premier League folklore as Caicedo made it clear his heart was with Chelsea, forcing Liverpool to turn their attention elsewhere. More than a year later, it is the Reds who have arguably benefited more from the midfielder’s turnaround, with their alternative signings – Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch – proving to be smart signings so far.

The latter in particular has excelled under Slot after a rather indifferent first season on Merseyside, shining in a deeper midfield role alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. That Gravenberch arrived from Bayern Munich for a fraction of the fee Chelsea paid for Caicedo suggests that missing out on the Ecuadorian has allowed Liverpool to pull off one of their smartest transfers in years.

Despite struggling to live up to his price tag in his first campaign at Stamford Bridge, Caicedo is slowly but surely showing why the Reds were so keen to sign him. No Premier League player has made more combined tackles and interceptions than the midfielder this season, and at 22 years old he still has plenty of time to improve.

Last month, the statistical group CIES Football Observatory Caicedo was named the best under-23 midfielder in the world, ahead of Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga, Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo and Gravenberch.

When asked on Friday about the role he has played in the Ecuadorian’s development, Maresca said: “I don’t know. That’s more of a question for him.

“I really believe that if you want to improve as a team, you have to improve the players. We try, not only with Moi, but with all the players, to spend time with them almost every day, to spend time with them, for extra work At the end of the session we keep players for extra work and Moi is one of the players.

“We are happy with the way he is playing. We have had no doubts about him as a player or as a person and we are very happy with him at the moment.”

Considering how strongly Liverpool have started under Slot, it would be difficult to argue that they are paying the price for missing out on Caicedo. But with Chelsea becoming the first in a long line of tough opponents for the Reds, they will surely be hoping whoever got away doesn’t come back to haunt them this weekend.