London, Aug 15 (IANS): Chelsea have completed the signing of Ecuador international midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton for a potential British record fee of 115 million pounds (146 million US dollars).

The initial fee of 100 million pounds, plus 15 million pounds in add-ons, surpasses the 106 million pounds Chelsea paid Benfica for Argentine international Enzo Fernandez earlier this January. This move continues the club's significant spending over the past year, reports Xinhua.

Caicedo agreed to an eight-year contract with the South London club, favoring them over Liverpool. Liverpool had a 111 million pounds offer for the midfielder accepted by Brighton on Friday.

"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," said the player on the Chelsea website.

Caicedo becomes Chelsea's eighth signing of the summer, joining the likes of Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku (who has suffered a significant knee injury), Nicolas Jackson, Lesley Ugochukwu, Angelo Gabriel, Robert Sanchez, and Diego Moreira.

The club's total summer expenditure has now exceeded 285 million pounds, with nearly a billion pounds spent in the last three transfer windows. However, player sales, including Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, and Ethan Ampadu, have fetched over 230 million pounds (292 million US dollars).

Brighton stand to make a substantial profit from the sale of Caicedo, who they purchased from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle for four million pounds (5.1 million US dollars) in February 2021.