Declan Rice of Arsenal outshines Moises Caicedo of Chelsea by a wide margin.

That is what Paul Merson claims.

Defensive midfielders Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo both signed lucrative contracts last summer.

After scouting Rice at West Ham, Arsenal spent £105 million (Sky Sports) to acquire his services. To take it a notch further, Chelsea paid Brighton a then-record-breаking £115 million (Sky Sports) to get Caicedo.

The 25-year-old Rice has been outstanding in the middle of the field since his arrival at Arsenal.

When playing for Chelsea, Caicedo got off to a sluggish start. However, we must admit that the 22-year-old has been looking much more steady and remarkable as of late.

After Chelsea’s 4-1 loss to Liverpool last week, Merson ripped into the midfield, focusing on Caicedo in particular.

By drawing parallels between the Blues player and Rice, who played for Arsenal and England, he has thrown an unusual jab at the player.

“Chelsea were awful versus Liverpool and justifiably lost 4-1,” Merson told Sportskeeda. They were completely disorganized and did not bring a central forward to Anfield. How can one afford to bench Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, who cost a total of €225 million, regardless of how well they play? Have Brighton’s recent signings of Caicedo—who cost them €4 million—made him the most expensive player in Premier League history? Two or three years isn’t nearly enough time to make that much progress.

Comparing Caicedo to Declan Rice is like comparing apples to oranges. I don’t think he made much of an impression at Chelsea, and that’s a big deal considering the money he was asking for. For lack of a better word, the Blues’ midfield was humiliatingly shredded by Liverpool.

Against Chelsea, Moises Caicedo will shine.

We’ll take the optimistic view and think Caicedo will do well for Chelsea.

Neither the team’s wildly uneven play nor this astronomical price tag have helped him this season.

Joe Cole stated earlier this week in an interview with The Liverpool Echo that Caicedo is improving.

The talented all-around midfielder is simply missing his Premier League form from his time at Brighton.