Arsenal’s season has been rocked by a serious knee injury to summer signing Jurrien Timber which will require surgery.

The Netherlands international moved to the Emirates Stadium from Ajax this summer but was forced off on his Premier League debut – Saturday’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

Timber, 22, limped off at half-time against Forest following a heavy challenge on Brennan Johnson that earned the full-back a booking.

He emerged for the second half but lasted just five minutes before going down off the ball and being replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu.

An Arsenal statement on Wednesday read: “Further to detailed assessments with consultant specialists since Saturday, we can confirm that Jurrien has sustained an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

“Jurrien will undergo surgery in the coming days and will be out of action for a period of time.

“The support and expertise from our medical team and everyone at the club will now be focussed on Jurrien’s rehabilitation programme, to ensure he recovers well and is back playing as soon as possible.”

Timber was a £38.5million signing for the Gunners and played in the Community Shield penalty shoot-out win over Manchester City before suffering the setback against Forest.

Despite losing Timber, Arsenal are still expected to allow Nuno Tavares to leave the club in the coming days, with Forest a potential destination for the former Portugal Under-21s full-back.

While signed primarily to play at right-back, Timber had started life at Arsenal on the left side of defence, filling in as Oleksandr Zinchenko recovered from a calf problem.

Former Manchester United captain Harry Maguire will not be moving to West Ham as it stands, the PA news agency understands.

The 30-year-old centre-back became the most expensive defender in history when joining the Old Trafford giants from Leicester for £80million in 2019.

Maguire was swiftly handed the captain’s armband, but a lack of form and game time led Erik ten Hag to last month name Bruno Fernandes as United’s new skipper.

West Ham’s initial £20m bid for the England international was rejected before an improved offer in the region of £30m was accepted by the Red Devils last week.

But the Hammers began looking at other potential options after the move stalled and it is now believed Maguire will be staying put.

A source close to the player said he feels settled at United, remains confident of game time this season and did not speak to West Ham boss David Moyes during the process.

Maguire was an unused substitute on Monday as United beat Wolves 1-0 – ahead of which Ten Hag indicated he had a future at the club if he fought for it.

The fact United would have to find a replacement centre-back at this stage of the window is another consideration.

Chelsea have agreed to activate a £35million release clause in Michael Olise’s contract leaving them free to negotiate personal terms with the Crystal Palace winger, the PA news agency understands.

A deal is yet to be struck with the player but it is understood he has made it clear to Palace that he wishes to leave in order to become the latest recruit in Mauricio Pochettino’s Stamford Bridge rebuild.

The 21-year-old, who can play either as an attacking midfielder or out wide, is currently out with a hamstring injury and is unlikely to be fit before September.

Should he agree terms as expected, he will join seven other first-team recruits brought in during the transfer window so far, taking the club’s total summer spend to over £320m once performance-related add-ons are taken into account.

Southampton’s Romeo Lavia is also understood to have told his club he wishes to join Chelsea with that deal expected to go through in the coming days once a fee – likely to be in excess of £50m – has been agreed.

Chelsea, who broke the British transfer record for the second time in eight months with the signing of Brighton’s Moises Caicedo for a possible £115m on Monday, will have had a net spend of £175m once the Olise deal is finalised, with a clutch of players having been offloaded for significant fees earlier in the summer.

Olise has appeared 63 times in the Premier League for Palace since signing from Reading in 2021 and played an influential role last season in the absence of Wilfried Zaha, who spent part of the campaign injured.

Chelsea are understood still to be in the market for a goalkeeper to play back-up to Robert Sanchez after Kepa Arrizabalaga joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan on Monday.

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne faces up to four months out and could require surgery on a hamstring injury.

The 32-year-old was forced off in the first half of June’s Champions League final triumph against Inter Milan and did not play a single minute of pre-season.

De Bruyne returned from that hamstring issue as a second-half substitute in the Community Shield shoot-out loss to Arsenal and captained the side against Burnley in Friday’s Premier League opener.

But the Belgium playmaker only lasted 23 minutes at Turf Moor, where seemingly out of nothing he signalled to the bench that he had felt something.

Guardiola said after the game at Burnley that the issue related to the same hamstring and would see him miss a few weeks, but it appears worse than first feared.

“It’s serious, the injury,” the City boss said. “We have to decide if it’s surgery or not surgery, but it will be a few months out.”

Guardiola said that decision will be taken in the “next days” and De Bruyne faces “three or four months out” if he goes under the knife.

“Ramon (Cugat) saw the images,” Guardiola said of his go-to doctor in Barcelona.

“He didn’t personally (do anything) and they have two or three doctors have the same opinion, more or less, what they have to do.”

Guardiola was speaking on the eve of City’s first ever UEFA Super Cup appearance, with De Bruyne’s injury leaving him clearly downbeat in Greece.

“I have to say the injury for Kevin is a sore blow for us, so he’s a big loss,” Guardiola said at the press conference previewing the clash with Sevilla.

“Kevin has specific qualities that you can lose for one game, two games, but for a long time is really, really tough for us.

“But at the same time you have to look forward and of course you have alternatives there with different skills because the skills for Kevin are irreplaceable.

“But you have different talent players so it’s an opportunity. Life gives you that.

“When there’s an injury, there’s an opportunity for the other ones and I’m pretty sure they will take it.”

Asked if the injury was down to bad luck or De Bruyne returning too soon, Guardiola shot back: “Give me 25 days of preparation and he will not be injured.

“Before I take the decision I spoke to the doctors, the physios with him and he told me ‘I feel good, I feel good’.

“So, I said ‘ok, it’ s better start then half-time (take him off) but unfortunately it happened.”

Phil Foden looks primed to step up in that role but the severity of De Bruyne’s injury could see City look at a signing before the window closes.

“We will see,” he said. “After what happened, we haven’t talked with Txiki (Begiristain, City sporting director).

“We will see the chances and possibilities. We will see.”

De Bruyne looks set to miss City’s entire Champions League group stage and potentially December’s Club World Cup on top of domestic matters.

The severity of the Belgium playmaker’s injury is a big setback and came as a surprise to team-mate Rodri.

“Well, I didn’t know it was that much, honestly,” he said. “What can I say? I mean, he is one of the most important players of the club.

“For sure we are going to miss him a lot. We are going to try to support him in this bad moment. No one wants injuries.

“I saw him the other day and he was positive, he wants to come back (quickly).

“He’s an experienced player, he knows he doesn’t have to run fast to come back. He has to recover – that’s the most important part.

“We are going to miss him but at the same time I can tell you we have a very complete squad to play these two months without him.

“And hopefully we can have him back because he has been so important these years.”

Former Manchester United captain Harry Maguire’s move to West Ham has stalled, the PA news agency understands.

The 30-year-old centre-back became the most expensive defender in history when joining the Old Trafford giants from Leicester for £80million in 2019.

Maguire was swiftly handed the captain’s armband, but a lack of form and game time led Erik ten Hag to last month name Bruno Fernandes as United’s new skipper.

West Ham’s initial £20m bid for the England international was rejected before an improved offer in the region of £30m was accepted by the Red Devils last week.

But the PA news agency understands the Hammers are looking at other potential options as the move has stalled, albeit the transfer is not dead.

Maguire was an unused substitute on Monday as United beat Wolves 1-0 and a resolution between selling club and player is thought to be a key part of the hold up.

David Moyes’ Europa Conference League champions have signed Ajax’s Edson Alvarez and Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse in recent days.

Pep Guardiola has confirmed Kevin De Bruyne faces a “few months out” with a hamstring injury, with Manchester City now having to decide whether he will undergo surgery.

The 32-year-old midfielder was forced off in the first half of June’s Champions League final triumph against Inter Milan and did not play a single minute of pre-season.

De Bruyne returned as a second-half substitute in the Community Shield shoot-out loss to Arsenal and captained the side against Burnley in Friday’s Premier League opener.

But the Belgium playmaker only lasted 23 minutes at Turf Moor, where seemingly out of nothing he signalled to the bench that he had felt something.

Guardiola said the issue related to the same hamstring and would see him miss “a few months”, but it is worse than first feared and a decision has to be made over surgery.

“It’s a seriously injury,” the City boss said. “We have to decide surgery or not surgery but a few months out.”

The decision on surgery will be taken in the coming days and could see him miss “three or four months”, Guardiola said.

Arsenal have completed the signing of goalkeeper David Raya from Brentford on a season-long loan, with an option for a permanent transfer.

The 27-year-old played in all 38 of the Bees’ Premier League games last season keeping 11 clean sheets and conceding 46 goals.

He will compete with England international Aaron Ramsdale for the number one position as Mikel Arteta’s team look to build on last season’s title challenge, whilst also playing in the Champions League for the first time 2017.

Gunners’ sporting director Edu said: “We welcome David to us on a season-long loan from Brentford. David is a top-quality goalkeeper, who has consistently performed to a high level with Brentford in the Premier League.

“With David joining us we are adding quality and depth to our squad so we can perform at the highest possible level in all competitions.”

He has also signed a new two-year deal with Brentford with an option for a third, something the club has described as a “fall-back option” should his Arsenal move not be made permanent.

Director of football Phil Giles said: “I’m not expecting to see David back at Brentford, although if ever that happened then of course the opportunity to work with such a high-class goalkeeper for up to two more years would in many ways be an unexpected bonus for us.

“All parties (want) to make this a permanent transfer as soon as practically possible.”

Raya, who joined Brentford from Blackburn whilst they were playing in the Championship in 2019, leaves having appeared 161 times for the club.

He made his debut for Spain during a 2-1 friendly win against Albania in March 2022 and was a part of Luis Enrique’s squad for last year’s World Cup.

Tottenham had reportedly been keen to sign him as a long-term replacement for Hugo Lloris but a deal to take him from the Gtech Stadium did not  materialise.

Arsenal sold back-up keeper Matt Turner to Nottingham Forest earlier this month, with the United States international making his debut for his new side during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at the Emirates.

Referee Simon Hooper and both video assistant referees from Wolves’ 1-0 defeat at Manchester United on Monday night have been stood down from the next set of Premier League fixtures, the PA news agency understands.

Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil revealed he had received an apology from elite referees’ manager Jon Moss after his side were denied a “blatant” stoppage-time penalty when United’s debutant goalkeeper Andre Onana clattered into Sasa Kalajdzic deep into stoppage time.

Hooper did not react to the incident, and VAR Michael Salisbury deemed there was no foul – with an incredulous O’Neil instead booked for his reaction to the decision.

PA understands head of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) Howard Webb, who has demanded a higher level of accountability as well as an open and transparent approach, had also been in touch with Wolves after the match to apologise.

Hooper, VAR Salisbury and assistant VAR Richard West have all not been selected for the second round of Premier League fixtures.

Appointments for those games had not yet been made public ahead of Monday’s night’s match at Old Trafford. All three officials were absent from the ‘Matchweek 2’ list published by the Premier League on Tuesday morning.

Speaking after Monday’s defeat, during which Wolves created plenty of chances, O’Neil said he thought Onana was trying to “take Kalajdzic’s head off”.

The new Wolves head coach added: “Fair play to Jon (Moss) in coming out (to talk to me).

“He said it was clear and obvious and he can’t believe the on-field referee didn’t give it and he can’t believe VAR didn’t intervene.

“It’s probably made me feel worse to be honest because once you know you’re right you feel worse about leaving with nothing.”

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana believes referee Simon Hooper and VAR were right not to award Wolves a last-gasp penalty in Monday night’s Premier League clash at Old Trafford.

United opened their league account for the season in unconvincing fashion as Raphael Varane’s header 14 minutes from time was enough to earn a 1-0 victory that was barely deserved.

Indeed, it looked like Wolves might get the chance to equalise from the penalty spot at the death when debutant Onana appeared to clatter into Sasa Kalajdzic, but the goalkeeper got away with it.

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said Onana tried “to take the centre-forward’s head off” and claimed Premier League referees’ boss Jon Moss apologised to him for the decision after the match.

But asked if it was a penalty, Onana said: “No, goalkeepers make decisions, sometimes you are right, sometimes you are not.

“I made a decision and I am responsible for everything. For me it was contact between two big guys and nothing happened. But for us, the most important thing was to win and I am happy for the victory.

“Of course I was confident (it would not be given).”

Onana made his Premier League debut following his summer move from Inter Milan.

The Cameroon international, who worked with Erik Ten Hag at Ajax, has big boots to fill following on from David De Gea, and his style differs greatly from the Spaniard as he likes the ball at his feet.

But he insists it is a case of him adapting to his new surroundings rather than the United defence changing their game.

“Listen, I think I’m playing with some of the best defenders in the world because playing for Manchester United is not something easy,” he said.

“I think I’m the one who has to adapt because United is a very big club and I’m proud to be able to perform here and proud to play alongside these defenders and if something has to change, I think we will do it.

“At the moment everything is going right and we just have to continue working like this and I think it will be OK by the end of the season.”

Few will have seen a performance like this coming from Wolves, whose plans for the season were thrown into disarray last week when boss Julen Lopetegui left, just five days before their opener, with O’Neil coming in.

O’Neil, who was sacked at Bournemouth after keeping them in the English top flight last season, will have been thrilled at what he saw as his new side put in a slick counter-attacking display that had United on the run for the majority of the game.

But old failings returned as they could not score with any of the 23 shots they had, which will have brought back memories from last season, where they registered just 31 times.

“I think we keep doing more like today,” O’Neil said. “My initial thoughts around them not scoring enough goals last year was, we need to arrive in good areas, with good numbers more.

“We have enough talent in the group so if we arrive in good numbers, the boys will score goals, no doubt.

“I don’t think today was a reoccurrence of the pattern you saw last year. I think if the lads play that game 100 times, they score in 99 of them.

“Keep arriving in those areas, keep working with the players to improve understanding and how many times we arrive and the lads will score some goals.”

Premier League referees’ boss Jon Moss apologised to Gary O’Neil and told him Wolves had been denied a “blatant” stoppage-time penalty in their 1-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, according to the Wolves boss.

United’s debutant goalkeeper Andre Onana clattered into Sasa Kalajdzic deep into time added on, but Simon Hooper did not react and VAR Michael Salisbury deemed there was no foul, with an incredulous O’Neil instead booked for his reaction.

O’Neil said after the match he though Onana was trying to take Kalajdzic’s head off, and then revealed he had received an immediately apology from Moss.

“Having just spoken to Jon Moss, fair enough he came straight out and said it was a blatant penalty and it should have been given,” O’Neil said.

“I sometimes feel bad. I’ve spent a lot of my day with him trying to understand the new guidelines and how to not get myself booked which I’ve failed in, but fair play to Jon in coming out.

“He said it was clear and obvious and he can’t believe the on-field referee didn’t give it and he can’t believe VAR didn’t intervene. It’s probably made me feel worse to be honest because once you know you’re right you feel worse about leaving with nothing.”

United boss Erik ten Hag tried to play down the incident, but he was largely alone in thinking the officials got the decision right.

“When VAR looked at it and decided not to give it of course we are pleased,” the Dutchman said. “It’s about the referee and the VAR. I think the two players come together and Andre didn’t interfere with the action from them because first was the touch on the ball and then came Andre.”

The controversial decision was not the only thing that left the impression United had been lucky to take three points from their opening Premier League match, with Raphael Varane’s 76th-minute header decisive in a laboured performance from the hosts.

With O’Neil only a few days into his tenure, Wolves impressed with their attacking intent. They registered 23 attempts at goal, the most for any visiting team at Old Trafford since Chelsea had 25 in November 2005, another match that ended in a 1-0 win for United.

Scoring goals was an all-too-familiar problem for Wolves last term but O’Neil was encouraged by what he saw.

“Huge credit to the lads,” O’Neil said. “There’s been some negativity surrounding the place but they’ve committed to what we asked of them and gone toe to toe with a top side at a difficult place to come and they’re disappointed.

“For the amount of shots we’ve had and the expected goals, we deserved at least a point…

“Bigger picture stuff and where we want to take the group, tonight is a big step four days in. Coming to a place like this it could have gone very differently.”

United struggled to find any flow and were second best in the second half until Aaron Wan-Bissaka latched on to a dinked ball from Bruno Fernandes, and lifted the ball over for Varane to nod home.

“It was a tough game,” Ten Hag said. “I think we can do much better on the ball. We proved that last season and also in pre-season but the pre-season is not the season and when the league starts opponents are more aggressive.

“Our decision-making could have been better and were not aggressive enough from that point of view, but there are a lot of positives to take. We fought for our lives and we survived with three points so well done.”

Manchester United survived a late VAR scare as Raphael Varane’s second-half goal saw them edge past an impressive Wolves to get their Premier League campaign off to a winning start at Old Trafford.

Varane headed home from close range with 14 minutes remaining to ensure an unconvincing display from Erik Ten Hag’s team ended in a 1-0 victory that was barely deserved.

Indeed, it looked like Wolves might get the chance to equalise from the penalty spot at the death when goalkeeper Andre Onana appeared to clatter into Sasa Kalajdzic, but referee Simon Hooper waved away protests and VAR backed his decision.

It felt harsh as few will have seen a performance like this coming from Wolves, whose plans for the season were thrown into disarray last week when boss Julen Lopetegui left just five days before kick-off, with Gary O’Neil coming in.

O’Neil, who was sacked at Bournemouth after keeping them up last season, will have been thrilled at what he saw as his new side put in a slick counter-attacking display that had United on the run for the majority of the game.

But it was old failings that came back to haunt them as they could not take any of their chances, with the electric Matheus Cunha hitting the post in the second half.

United will know a display like this will not be good enough, but they at least got the job done to ensure they join Manchester City and Arsenal in taking maximum points in the opening weekend of the campaign.

There was a small scale demonstration outside the ground before kick-off as United fans again chanted against the Glazers and the lengthy sale process of the club, which has been going on since November.

However, planned protests against the possibility of Mason Greenwood being integrated back into the squad did not extend beyond the odd banner, with the forward’s fate still unknown as the club are still in a consultation phase following the conclusion of their internal investigation.

The off-the-pitch issues have not clouded what was a promising pre-season for Ten Hag’s men, though they could not translate that into a cohesive performance in the opening 45 minutes.

In fact, to much surprise given their build-up to the season, Wolves were the better team as they had United running scared with pace on the break, creating two excellent openings to take the lead.

In the 26th minute a lightning counter attack saw Cunha surge forward and pass to Pablo Sarabia, but it was slightly behind him and the Spaniard saw his drilled effort go just wide with the aid of a deflection.

Another slick move saw roles reversed six minutes later as Sarabia’s excellent pass played in Cunha, but he dragged his shot wide after bursting into the box.

That acted as something of a wake-up call to United, who came to life in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

There were loud shots for a penalty when Marcus Rashford headed against the arm of Nelson Semedo, but the Wolves defender managed to tuck his limb in just in the nick of time.

But Wolves rediscovered their counter-attacking verve after the break and should have led in the 50th minute.

Another lung-busting break from Cunha, who ran virtually the length of the pitch, saw him lay the ball off to Sarabia and it came back to him at the far post, but, slightly off balance, his shot clipped the outside of the post.

The hosts were petrified of Cunha and their defence parted in alarming fashion five minutes later but saw a low shot saved by Andre Onana.

Cunha was at it again in the 71st minute with another run that had United floundering and the loose ball fell to Pedro Neto, but he shot straight at Onana.

There was an inevitability about what was to come as Wolves paid for their lack of cutting edge when United stole the lead in the 76th minute.

Bruno Fernandes unlocked the defence to play in Aaron Wan-Bissaka and his cross from the right was headed home by Varane from close range.

Wolves knocked on the door for an equaliser and Fabio Silva had a hat-trick of chances but was denied by Onana’s legs twice while Luke Shaw produced a goal-saving block to earn his side victory.

The visitors thought they should have had a penalty in the sixth minute of time when Onana went walkabouts, but Hooper and VAR denied them.

Jurgen Klopp called for clarity on time-wasting offences after Trent Alexander-Arnold was booked for taking too long over a thrown-in during Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea on Sunday.

This season has seen the introduction of measures to try and keep the ball in play for a greater proportion of matches, with significant increases in added time seen over the Premier League’s opening weekend.

It is hoped that adding on time to reflect the length of pauses to the game will deter players from delaying the re-start of play.

But Klopp believes the yellow card shown to the Alexander-Arnold in the 67th minute at Stamford Bridge whilst the score was 1-1 was unfair since the defender was looking for a player to throw the ball to.

“I think last season some teams stretched it, definitely,” he said. “And we are not one of these teams, we never were. I knew we would get a yellow card – probably the first yellow card – for time wasting with a throw-in.

“When Trent is looking for a player and tries to find a player, this is a tactical thing – he cannot just take the ball and throw it.

“Maybe we have to clarify it a little bit, but besides that I think too many teams stretched it and did it too obvious and that’s why everybody thinks we should watch a bit more football.

“I don’t know exactly what the net ball in play time was today, but that’s how it is now. It was not a problem today for me, to be honest. What was it, first half six minutes? Because of the VAR decisions. And second half, five, I think.

“That’s a lot but this is a time where we try to sort it like that. I am not sure that will last forever but at the moment it’s like that and we have to deal with it.”

Liverpool led early in west London thanks to Luis Diaz’s well-taken breakaway goal and thought they had doubled their lead when Mohamed Salah slotted home, only for VAR to adjudge the striker was offside.

Chelsea levelled through debutant defender Axel Disasi and had a second goal of their own from Ben Chilwell chalked off after a video check, as the sides played out an entertaining draw.

The game was characterised by a lack defensive control in midfield from both sides, though Chelsea have since beaten Liverpool to the £115million signing of Moises Caicedo from Brighton and look set to land Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, who has also been courted by the Reds.

“We should’ve solved it better,” said Klopp of his team’s difficulty in midfield. “The best way to avoid these kind of things (is) obviously controlling the game (which) we could’ve done, because when we did that we passed in the right moment and kept the ball in the right moment and created one v one situations on the wing, so it was really tricky for Chelsea to deal with.

“It’s the first game, not the last, so we have a lot of things to improve there’s no doubt about that, but I saw already a good basis.”

Of the two clubs’ competition over Caicedo and Lavia, he added: “(More players) is usually what a Chelsea manager wants, and usually they get it.”

Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber will see a specialist to determine the extent of his knee injury, with reports suggesting he is set for an extended spell on the sidelines.

The Dutchman, signed from Ajax in a £38.5million summer transfer, limped off early in the second half of Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest in the Gunners’ opening Premier League match.

According to reports, Timber has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which if confirmed would see the Netherlands defender facing a lengthy spell of rehabilitation and possibly being out until early 2024.

Arsenal confirmed on Monday evening that further assessments will be needed to determined a timeframe for Timber’s return to action.

“Further to his substitution during our match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Jurrien Timber has received extensive assessments and scans which have confirmed he has sustained an injury to his right knee,” a club statement read.

“Jurrien will undergo a further detailed assessment and review with a consultant in the coming days to assess the full extent of the injury, in order to determine the next steps. A further update will be provided in due course.

“Everyone at the club will be focused on supporting Jurrien at this time.”

Moises Caicedo’s £100m move from Brighton continues Chelsea’s lavish spending under Todd Boehly’s ownership group and represents another major profit for the Seagulls.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the two clubs’ contrasting approaches in the transfer market.

Boehly breaks the bank

Chelsea became used to unprecedented transfer outlay under former chairman Roman Abramovich but if anything, Boehly and Behdad Eghbali’s Clearlake consortium have taken it to new levels.

Raheem Sterling was the first signing of the new era for a reported £47.5million last summer, with defenders Wesley Fofana (£70m), Marc Cucurella (£60m) and Kalidou Koulibaly (£34m) the other stand-out deals in a window that saw them spend over £250m in all.

A British record £106.8m deal for Enzo Fernandez and an initial £62m, potentially rising to as much as £89m, for Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk followed in January. The Premier League’s spending of £815m that month was almost double the previous January record of £430m, while Chelsea’s £308m alone would have ranked second on that chart and was more than the rest of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues combined.

That £650m-plus season expenditure – plus pay-offs to sacked managers Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, and a reported £20m to Brighton to lure Potter in the first place – could not help Chelsea to success as they limped to a 12th-placed finish in the league, their worst finish since 1994.

The solution, unsurprisingly, has been to spend another £290m and counting this summer on the likes of forwards Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson, defender Axel Disasi – whose debut goal earned a draw with Liverpool on Sunday – and now Caicedo.

With a reported ongoing interest in Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia and an admitted need for another striker following Nkunku’s injury, Boehly’s Blues could be on course for an even larger outlay in this window and potentially even a total outlay topping £1billion within 15 months of their takeover.

Brighton bring in big bucks

Caicedo is the latest off-the-radar discovery to make a huge profit for Brighton, having signed from Independiente del Valle in his native Ecuador for a reported £4.4m as recently as February 2021.

Now seemingly worth up to 26 times that amount if the £15m in potential add-ons in his deal are all activated, the midfielder continues an impressive trend.

In the last three seasons, Albion have sold 10 first-team players who made at least 20 league appearances in the previous campaign and have made a profit on all but two.

The summer 2021 window saw homegrown defender Ben White move to Arsenal for a reported £50m and Dan Burn to his hometown club Newcastle for £13m, a near-£10m profit for the Seagulls.

Alireza Jahanbaksh’s move to Fenerbahce that summer represents Brighton’s only significant loss on a first-team player in that timeframe, the Iran winger leaving for less than £1m having signed for a then club-record fee of almost £17m in 2018.

Neal Maupay, signed for just over £14m from Brentford and sold to Everton last summer for £10m, is the only other player to lose Brighton money in the market but it was offset by selling Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella, both signed for in the region of £15m, for £25m and £60m to Tottenham and Chelsea respectively.

A £7m profit on Leandro Trossard followed with his January move to Arsenal before this summer saw £7m signing Alexis Mac Allister and academy product Robert Sanchez sold for, respectively, an initial £35m to Liverpool and £20m to Chelsea. Caicedo’s move makes it a combined profit of around £245m on the 10 players.

Chelsea have completed the signing of Moises Caicedo from Brighton for an initial £100million, possibly rising to £115m after add-ons.

A deal for the midfielder was finally agreed late on Sunday night after a lengthy saga that saw Brighton knock back three bids for the 21-year-old.

He underwent a medical and agreed personal terms on Monday and has signed an eight-year contract with the club.

Caicedo said: “I am so happy to join Chelsea! I am so excited to be here at this big club and I didn’t have to think twice when Chelsea called me, I just knew I wanted to sign for the club.

“It’s a dream come true to be here and I can’t wait to get started with the team.”

The PA news agency also understands Chelsea have won the race to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton after the midfielder picked Stamford Bridge over a move to Liverpool

Though a fee is yet to be agreed, the 19-year-old has indicated his desire to join Mauricio Pochettino’s side and negotiations will now take place over personal terms, with the deal likely to be worth in excess of £50million.

It is the second time in less than 24 hours that the club have beaten Liverpool to a key transfer target following Caicedo’s capture.

Belgium international Lavia has played just 29 Premier League games since joining Southampton from Manchester City last summer but was a standout performer last season despite Saints’ relegation to the Championship.

Liverpool had reportedly agreed a deal worth £60m to sign Lavia as Klopp looks to reinforce his midfield following a clutch of departures, but look set to miss out again in an echo of their failure to lure Caicedo, for whom a £111m fee had been agreed before Chelsea stepped in.