Chelsea have been blessed to have both the outrageous ability and availability of their star midfielder Moises Caicedo since his signing in 2023. After making a move from Brighton before coming from one of the world’s most renowned academies at Independiente Del Valle, Caicedo emerged as one of the world’s best midfielders in 2025. Alongside his 73 tackles won, which ranks fifth in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues, Caicedo played over 3,300 minutes in the league alone, getting up unphased after every physical challenge that he would usually win.
This time, after another 382 minutes in the Conference League, as well as the record heat, he may not have gotten away unscathed after going down towards the end of their 2-0 victory over Fluminense. But if Caicedo is forced to miss the final against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea do have many capable replacements to fill in the midfield.
How Chelsea could replace Moises Caicedo in Club World Cup Final
1. Andrey Santos
One of them is no doubt familiar with the speed of PSG, having played them in Ligue 1 and even beating them at home. Andrey Santos, on loan at Strasbourg last year, is a defensive ready-made replacement. Where Caicedo ranked fifth in tackles won in Europe, Santos ranked fourth, and has already brought his defensive work to the Club World Cup winning nin duels in his quarterfinal start against Palmeiras.
After impressing in his loan spell in France, where he was nominated for Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year, Santos is more than capable of starting a final for Chelsea, but if Enzo Maresca doesn’t trust the Brazilian is ready for the big occasion after just one start, there is a replacement much more familiar with finals.
2. Reece James
Reece James, known as a right-back coming through Chelsea’s academy and in his six seasons at the club, has had the opposite injury luck of Moises Caicedo. James hasn’t made over 15 league starts since 2022, and has been played in the midfield both at Chelsea and for England to avoid any further injury problems.
While Maresca insists it's a tactical decision, citing his time as a midfielder during a loan spell at Wigan, James has yet to reach the level he had as a wing back under Thomas Tuchel. But what he does have is experience in finals that nearly no other Chelsea player has, winning the Champions League while as a center-back in 2021, and changing the game as a halftime midfield substitute in the recent Conference League final.
3. Dario Essugo
If Santos isn’t ready and James isn’t the choice to start as a midfielder, a wildcard choice could be recently signed Dario Essugo. Brought in as a double deal from Sporting CP alongside wonderkid Geovanny Quenda, many didn’t believe Essugo would be a part of Chelsea’s squad.
But Essugo was brought on for Chelsea during their opening fixture when fans were expecting the debut of Andrey Santos. Essugo immediately tracked the highest speed of any player on the night at 8.49 km/h, and could be the perfect trick up Maresca’s sleeve to match PSG’s pace and surprise Luis Enrique tactically.