Jorge Célico, responsible for the youth divisions of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) and coach of the national U-20 team, "would have preferred" that Moisés Caicedo, 19-year-old Ecuadorian midfielder, "did not leave" to play abroad yet.

The Argentine professional expressed himself honestly in an interview with The Football Channel on Tuesday night and acknowledged that he hoped the talented young Ecuadorian midfielder would have more experience in the domestic league.
"This is an opinion from the outside (without influence on the player's decisions), but I would have preferred him not to leave, to have 35, 40 games in the local league, to consolidate himself, to have a whole year of World Cup qualifiers with his national team (for the World Cup in Qatar); and then, later on, to leave," Célico stated.

Caicedo, who just turned 19 in November, signed this year with Brighton & Hove Albion in the English Premier League, after his stint at Independiente del Valle. He made his debut in the Ecuadorian Serie A in 2019 with Independiente and established himself as a starter in 2020. In the same year, he also became a key player in Ecuador's national team, under the guidance of Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro, in the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2022 (4 games, one goal).

Despite his stance, Célico pointed out: "It is a very biased and short-sighted view of what I am saying, because the commercial interest that currently drives football makes what I am saying impossible. I am speaking solely from a sporting standpoint: players grow by playing."

In the LigaPro, Caicedo appeared in 25 games, according to records from the league and the FEF. Out of that total, 3 games were in 2019 and 22 in 2020. In his first year, he was part of the Independiente team that won the Copa Sudamericana, their first-ever major title.

'Brighton is better'

The English press reported and confirmed Manchester United's interest in acquiring Caicedo's sports rights, but it was ultimately Brighton that signed him.

This decision is pleasing to Célico: "I prefer where he's going, rather than United, because I think he will have more chances to play." (D)