In the lead-up to Moises Caicedo’s Premier League debut against his old team, Brighton, Mauricio Pochettino has been talking about the midfielder’s adjustment to life at Chelsea.

Caicedo left the Seagulls in August after a drawn-out transfer drama. Although Caicedo was excited about the project being created and supported Chelsea, he ultimately decided on Chelsea despite rumors that Liverpool was interested.

With 14 Blues games under his belt, Caicedo has already displayed glimmers of his best play. Pochettino has cautioned against having high expectations too soon, even though he is aware that there is still much to come.

“Moi arrived when we were already playing Premier League games, with no pre-season, and the emotional situation that happened with him,” said Pochettino.

“We knew what was going to happen. He’s an emotional person who needs time to recover from that. If you want to express your talent, you need to be right here feeling your best.

‘The process is to play, to train, to be together. The international games haven’t helped, travelling to South America every month. He has had 25, 30 days with us, then 10, 12 days away, then comes back some small injuries. That didn’t help. It’s not an excuse, but it’s the reality.”

Pochettino believes Caicedo’s integration will quicken with a convincing victory at Cobham in the upcoming days, weeks, and months. He said that the 22-year-old has joined a team that is still getting established rather than one that is used to each other and to success.

“We need time. Of course, my mentality is that we need to perform, but in his situation, we need to give him time and not be unfair in the way we assess him.

“His position in the spine of the team is very important. We need him to start performing like we expect, but at the same time, we need to understand he is building towards his best moment.

‘It’s tough for him, but it’s tough for everyone. The expectation is different, the badge is different, the context is different. It’s about time to fit in and to start to perform. That is why we have no doubt it is only time.”