Chelsea’s £115m man defended by manager, but results are needed urgently

Mauricio Pochettino was asked about Moises Caicedo in his press conference today: have we seen the best of the midfielder? The £115m signing still has a lot more to give if he’s to live up to that price tag, that’s the implication in the question.

We’ve seen a couple of nice moments, no doubt, and we’ve seen flashes of the potential that caused us to pay so much for him. But have we seen the best of him? We seriously hope not.

Pochettino’s defence of Caicedo is totally fair:

“It’s a different environment and moment in the situation to now. Moi arrived when we were [already] playing games in the PL and [had] no pre-season and a lot of emotions around him. He got injured and travelled a lot. I think for him it is good to have a few months with us and with all the players here, to rest, play and focus on Chelsea.”

We didn’t expect him to be at his best right away, in any case. But when you spend that kind of money on a player, it’s not for future potential, it’s for both his ceiling and for the right now. And now we’re into December, we need to start seeing points being won on the pitch and fast. This Sunday, against his old team, would be a great time to start that.