Moises Caicedo is desperate to bring a trophy home to Stamford Bridge this season – in the form of the Europa Conference League.
Enzo Maresca’s men face Swedish side Djugarden in the Conference League semi-final, the club’s first European semi-final since 2021.
With such a young squad, the competition has been incredibly important for giving academy players and recent graduates such as Tyrique George minutes in a Chelsea shirt.
As the club’s only chance of silverware this season though, it is not just the young players who are excited by the opportunity, with senior players also excited by the club reaching the last four.
Moises Caicedo is ‘desperate’ to achieve his European ‘dream’
Since Caicedo joined Chelsea for a fee of £115 million in August 2023, he has come on from strength to strength.
Now he chases his first trophy, having played in the EFL Cup final defeat to Liverpool last season.
In an interview with the official Chelsea website, the Ecuadorian said: “Winning the Conference League would mean a lot to me, it’s a European title, and every player dreams of winning European titles.
“I’m champing at the bit for the game to get going because it would be my first international title, so what I want the most is to win it.”
Should Chelsea go on to defeat Djugarden and either Athletic Bilbao or Fiorentina in the final, they would become the first side to have won all three European titles.
The Blues have won the Champions League twice, in 2012 and 2021 and the Europa League twice, in 2013 and 2019.
Former manager Jose Mourinho became the first manager to win all three competitions when succeeding with Roma in 2022, but no club has yet to complete the set.
Moises Caicedo has been so versatile for Enzo Maresca he has ‘invented a new position’
Caicedo is favourite to be named Chelsea’s Player of the Year, after a season of incredibly impressive performances across the board, as The Blues sit fifth in the Premier League as well as chasing European glory.
In fact, Caicedo has been compared to Claude Makelele, after a series of incredibly eye catching displays.
| Dribbles completed | 100% |
| Long balls completed | 100% |
| Tackles won | 2 |
| Duels won | 5 |
| Interceptions | 4 |
| Ball recoveries | 5 |
Moises Caicedo’s stats against Everton
One of his big strengths has been his unexpected versatility at Stamford Bridge this season, with the Ecuadorian slotting in as an inverted right back several times.
He most recently did this successfully in the 1-0 win over Everton, a performance in which Peter Crouch believes Caicedo invented a new position.
There are still many more massive games to come in the rest of the season for Chelsea but if Caicedo can perform as he has thus far, he will surely lift a first major trophy at the end of May.
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