Liverpool have missed out on the signing of Moises Caicedo to Chelsea and they have been here before with Premier League rivals.

‘It’s only ever been Chelsea’, declared the official Twitter account of the London club upon announcing they had won the race with Liverpool to sign Moises Caicedo.

These five words will have been the last thing Liverpool supporters were hoping to see, though there is perhaps an element of truth to this message. Were the Reds ever truly a destination of choice for Caicedo, a player who has openly admitted he grew up supporting Chelsea?

The teaser video used to confirm the arrival of the midfielder showed him sporting Chelsea’s 2023/24 home kit before cutting to an old image of the player in his home country in the club’s 2020/21 home strip. A separate image emerged of the 21-year-old adoring a shirt of Independiente del Valle, an Ecuadorian club he joined in 2016, with Kante printed on the back.

Doubling down on his love for the Londoners during his first interview with the club, Caicedo said: “It was always a dream to play for Chelsea. Yeah, I support Chelsea. When I was a kid, because I saw a lot of players in the midfield, like (Claude) Makelele and N’Golo Kante. They were my inspiration for me to support Chelsea. I’m so happy to be working for Mauricio Pochettino. He speaks Spanish as well. This is so good for me because I can understand more.”

Listed above are three separate reasons why Caicedo chose Chelsea as his next club. It is also understood that Pochettino’s side offered increased personal terms compared to the package presented by the Reds.

And another factor in this move could be credited to the London lifestyle, something Liverpool have learned the hard way can be a major selling point to players.

A separate transfer battle with Chelsea a decade ago ended up with Willian heading for Stamford Bridge, a decision he recently explained was due to the pull of the capital city.

“I went to London and Liverpool and Tottenham (Hotspur) were interested. I was negotiating with both, not Chelsea. And in my heart the dream was to go to Chelsea,” the current Fulham winger told Premier League Brasil. “Proposals came from both of them and, as I wanted to stay in London, I decided that I’d go to Tottenham. Chelsea made an offer and I didn’t think twice. It was something I really wanted, with all due respect to Tottenham, who are also a great club, but my dream was to play for Chelsea.”

The same scenario played out one year later in 2014 as Liverpool searched for a Luis Suarez replacement. Alexis Sanchez, then of Barcelona, was viewed as the man to fill the gigantic void left behind by the Uruguayan and the Reds pulled out all the stops to get a deal over the line – even enlisting the help of Steven Gerrard.

“We felt we needed to get a world-class operator, to go like-for-like,” then Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers explained in 2017. “It was always going to be very difficult to replace Luis. Alexis was that player. We thought we had him.”

Even the words of Gerrard were not enough as the Reds missed out on another transfer target thanks to the lure of London. Writing in his 2016 autobiography, the legendary midfielder explained: “I tried hard with Sanchez. I was hoping I could ride the wave of our fantastic 2013-14 season. He was great in the way he responded; his English was good and we had some detailed text exchanges.

“Just when I thought we were getting somewhere, Sanchez pointed out, politely but honestly, that he appreciated my career was coming to an end and he felt he needed to be careful before signing a contract with Liverpool. Essentially, he wasn’t really certain of Liverpool’s future and had a lot more confidence in Arsenal. I appreciated the fact he was open and candid about his reasons. Being in London was another attraction for him and his girlfriend.”

Offering his side of events, then Liverpool CEO Ian Ayre was left frustrated by geographical reasons once again dictating a deal. “There was much-publicised interest in Alexis Sanchez, as part of the deal which saw Luis go to Barcelona, and that deal was done,” he told Sky Sports. “The only reason it wasn’t was that the player and his wife wanted to live in London. We couldn’t move the football club to London, unfortunately!”

For Jurgen Klopp, it is so often the case of finding the ‘right player’ for Liverpool. If it was only ever Chelsea for Caicedo, perhaps missing out on this transfer could be a blessing in disguise.