Brighton & Hove Albion signed Moisés Caicedo from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle in the winter 2021 market.
The midfielder initially struggled for minutes with the Seagulls and that saw him join Beerschot on a season-long loan deal last August.
His stay in Belgium was cut short and the 20-year-old returned to Brighton in January. Since then, Caicedo has cemented his place at the club, making 14 league starts in this calendar year.
The Ecuador international’s former club have made it to this season’s Copa Sudamericana final, where they will face São Paulo at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes on October 1st.
Caicedo came up through the ranks of Independiente del Valle’s academy before he made it to their first team in 2019. The South American has admitted he wouldn’t have been able to join Brighton if not for his old club.
“They were the ones who helped me take the next step, which was England. If I hadn’t come to a club like that, I wouldn’t be here (at Brighton),” he told Argentine newspaper Olé.
“To reach big teams you need more than all discipline and hard work in every training session. They helped me, since I arrived, to make an effort and give my 200 percent.
“Sometimes I had things as a child, like not wanting to train, but they helped me get rid of those bad habits and I was able to make my way through the Primera de Independiente, thanks to my dedication and effort.
“Thanks to the fact that they were behind me supporting me and removing my bad habits, making me strive daily and not lose, mainly, my humility.
“Independiente will be my home, always. In the future, when I succeed in Europe, I would love to go back there and help many kids so that they have a different mentality and can do things well here in Europe.”
Caicedo says the training sessions at Brighton remind him of his time he spent at Independiente del Valle.
“Sometimes I am training at Brighton and I think I am there, because the training is very similar: intense, short game and others. Every time I train here, it reminds me of Independiente,” the player explained.
