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Moises Caicedo was voted men’s players of the season for Chelsea this season - Getty Images/Shaun Botterill
Chelsea are expected to discuss rewarding Moises Caicedo - who the club regard as one of the best midfielders in the world - with a new contract this summer.
And Caicedo is among the Chelsea stars who can boost their pay by around 20 per cent by clinching qualification to the Champions League.
Caicedo was voted Chelsea’s men’s player of the year and players’ player of the year at the club’s awards ceremony on Sunday night, following the impressive victory over Liverpool.
Chelsea set a new British record by signing Caicedo in a deal worth £115 million from Brighton two summers ago and the Ecuadorian’s current deal does not expire until 2031.
That means there is no pressure on Chelsea to extend his contract or need to rush to offer new terms. But the club proved with Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson last summer that they are prepared to reward players for improvement.
Chelsea will not start any talks regarding contracts while the season is ongoing, particularly with so much at stake, but the expectation is that the issue will be discussed in June with Caicedo high on the agenda.
Last summer, Palmer and Jackson both signed new contracts that extended their original deals by two years to 2033 and secured them significant pay rises.
Caicedo has out-performed the pair this season and has been willing to take on a slightly different role under head coach Enzo Maresca when he has been asked to play as an inverted right-back.
Chelsea believe Caicedo has already proved himself to be one of the best midfielders in the world and are aware his stock could rocket even further by playing in the Champions League for the first time next season, should the club secure qualification.
Caicedo is not the only player Chelsea will consider rewarding over the summer, with the club to evaluate the performances of all of their players once the season ends.
The contracts of Chelsea’s players include Champions League participation clauses, which ensure they earn around 20 per cent more for playing in Europe’s top competition.
That means the first-team squad can effectively trigger pay increases by clinching a top-five place in the final three games of the season. There is, however, no extra bonus prize pot on offer for qualifying for the Champions League.
One of Chelsea’s co-owners, Hansjorg Wyss, has told the club’s fans that he favours moving Chelsea’s stadium away from its current site to Earl’s Court.
But Wyss also admitted a firm decision over the club’s stadium is being held up by a lack of direction from within the club’s ownership and suggested there have not been any recent board meetings over the subject.
Wyss told Chelsea Fan TV: “Earl’s Court would be the best option we can even think of. If it’s going to happen, I don’t know. There’s a lot of obstacles, but right now we don’t have one person who drives that project. That’s what we need. The meetings, the directors’ meetings, that’s our course. Not that we have one project where I’ve said ‘it’s going to happen, I’m going to make it happen’. It’s not going to happen.”
Todd Boehly also hinted at a lack of alignment between Chelsea’s owners over the future of the club’s stadium in March.
Boehly, who owns 38.5 per cent of Chelsea, which is split equally between himself, Wyss and Mark Walter, said: “We have to think about long term, what we are trying to accomplish. We have a big stadium-development opportunity that we have to flush out. And I think that is going to be where we are either aligned or we ultimately decide to go different ways.”
It emerged earlier this season that Clearlake Capital and Boehly - Chelsea’s co-controlling owners - are prepared to buy each other out.
Clearlake has been adamant it will not sell any of its 61.5 per cent stake and will not allow Chelsea to go up for auction again after previous owner Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club.
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