Santos 'ready' to replace 'key player' Caicedo

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca certainly knows the importance of Moises Caicedo.

The Italian head coach has picked the Ecuadorian midfielder in the starting line-up for 50 of his 51 Premier League matches at Chelsea.

However, after a red card in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal, Caicedo will miss Chelsea's next three matches against Leeds United, Bournemouth and Everton.

Caicedo has been a key player for the Blues so far this season, and only a late return from South America prevented him from starting their 2-0 victory against Burnley after the November international break.

Asked by BBC Sport about still winning while resting his midfield lynchpin, Maresca said: "I won't do it any more. This is the last time!"

He might have been joking, but there is perhaps some truth behind his words.

Caicedo won both the players' player and fans' player of the season awards in 2024-25, and Maresca regards him as one of the two best defensive midfielders in the world, alongside Manchester City's Rodri.

Statistics from football data provider Opta back up that judgement.

• No midfielder in Europe's top five leagues has made more tackles (28) or interceptions (18) this season than Caicedo.

• Those 28 tackles represent 23% of Chelsea's overall figure - the second-highest ratio Opta have on record for a player in a season since 2006-07.

• Caicedo makes more tackles and wins a higher percentage of duels (59%) than Arsenal's Declan Rice and Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch.

Chelsea's primary alternative for Caicedo is Andrey Santos, who filled in - and impressed - in the win against Burnley on 22 November.

"Andrey is ready," Maresca told BBC Sport. "His position is playing as a six, like Moi's position. He is ready."

Santos, who has four caps for Brazil, moved to Stamford Bridge from Vasco da Gama for £11m nearly three years ago, before loan spells back at Vasco, then Nottingham Forest and Strasbourg.

Read the full article here