The Red Devils appear to have been priced out of a move for the wantaway Blues player, who only has a year left on his current Stamford Bridge contract.
According to the Daily Mirror, Chelsea is unwilling to bend on their £65 million value of the England international, with United apparently willing to walk away after a £55 million offer was rejected.
According to The Times, Erik ten Hag is ready to make Brighton star Caicedo his primary target instead, despite the fact that the Seagulls want £15 million more for the Ecuadorian than United is willing to pay for Mount.
Caicedo has been a significant target for Chelsea for some time, following Arsenal’s failure to sign the midfielder in January.
Despite the fact that Mount is a more offensive player than the more box-to-box 21-year-old, he is being evaluated as Mount’s replacement.
Caicedo is poised to leave The Amex this summer, despite signing a new contract after his transfer to north London fell through.
While the Gunners remain interested in a trade, their main priority remains to beat Manchester City to Declan Rice.
Liverpool are also considered outsiders for the Brighton guy, however, he is said to prefer staying in the south and establishing a base in the capital.
United is prepared to blow up the Caicedo agreement.
However, it is thought that in order for Chelsea to sign Caicedo, they must first offload Mount for FFP considerations, however, United may be poised to blow that whole deal up by luring the Seagulls star over the latter instead.
After the departures of N’Golo Kante and Matteo Kovacic, the Blues are in serious need of fresh midfield signings, and several more top Stamford Bridge stars are set to leave this summer in a dramatic reshuffle under new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Ten Hag understands the importance of creating a more youthful engine room at Old Trafford, especially since both Casemiro and Christian Eriksen are on the wrong side of 30.
The Dutchman also intended to recruit Juventus star Rabiot, but the 28-year-old is poised to extend his contract with the Bianconeri, according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.
But it appears they are now ready to put all their eggs in the Caicedo basket, thereby stopping Chelsea’s chase and delivering a strong message to the Blues about how they have handled the ongoing Mount crisis.