TalkSPORT pundit Paul Ince says Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo has not replicated the form he showed at Brighton since he made the move to Stamford Bridge last summer.

The Blues beat off competition from Liverpool for the Ecuadorian international, with the club paying a British record £115m fee to secure his services, but Ince says manager Mauricio Pochettino hasn’t managed to get the best out of him yet:

“It’s not about the price tag, Caicedo was a top, top player at Brighton, gone to Chelsea and not the same player. Pochettino has got a young team, give them time. You can’t keep sacking managers.”

Caicedo did not perform particularly well in his last outing against Brentford, having failed to intercept the ball in the build-up to the Bees’ opening goal.

It is not the first time that he has put in an underwhelming performance, with many yet to be convinced that he is worth the investment that the club made.

Playing as the ‘lone 6’ does not suit Caicedo

During his time at Brighton, the 22-year-old was usually deployed in a double pivot. He worked very well in tandem with Alexis Mac Allister.

However, since moving to Chelsea, he has been asked to play as a lone holding midfielder. His partner Enzo Fernandez is usually deployed much further up the pitch, meaning that Caicedo is left all alone to hold the fort.

It’s fair to say that the Ecuadorian isn’t the best at being a no.6, with his talents being much better utilised when asked to play as a box-to-box player.

Could another manager get more out of the Chelsea star?

Ince appears to be defending Pochettino, despite the fact that he hasn’t been able to get the best from Caicedo.

You do wonder whether another coach could get a different tune out of the midfielder. It should be pointed out that his former Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is among the candidates to replace Pochettino.