Felipe Caicedo

Football player infobox
playername = Felipe Caicedo


fullname = Felipe Salvador Caicedo Corozo
height = height|ft=6|in=1
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1988|9|5
cityofbirth = Guayaquil
countryofbirth = Ecuador
currentclub = Manchester City
clubnumber = 20
position = Left midfielder, Striker
youthyears = 2004–2006
youthclubs = Rocafuerte
years = 2006–2008
2008–
clubs = FC Basel
Manchester City
caps(goals) = 44 (12)
10 0(0)
nationalyears = 2007–
nationalteam = Ecuador
nationalcaps(goals) = 22 0(4)
pcupdate = 13:14, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 13:14, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Felipe Salvador Caicedo Corozo (born September 5, 1988 in Guayaquil) is an Ecuadorian football striker who plays for Manchester City in the Premier League and the Ecuadorian national team.

Club career

Swiss Super League's FC Basel signed Caicedo from Rocafuerte in his native Ecuador during the Swiss 2005–06 season for an undisclosed fee while he was just 17 years old. Due to his extreme youth he was trained in the minor divisions. He went on to play 20 games for Basel in the following 2006–07 season, accompanied by 3 Swiss League goals. Clubs from La Liga, Premier League, and Serie A were monitoring his progress.

On 31 January, it was announced that Manchester City had secured Caicedo's services on a 4 and a half year deal through a £5.2 million transfer fee, (7 million Euros) which would make his sale one of the highest transfer in the history of the Swiss League. His transfer to Manchester City was completed after Caicedo was granted a work permit. [cite news | date=2008-01-31 | url=http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3096727,00.html | title=City close on Caicedo | publisher=Sky Sports | accessdate=2008-01-31] [cite news | date=2008-01-31 | url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=511374&in_page_id=1779&ct=5 | title=Manchester City sign striker Caicedo for £5m | publisher=Daily Mail | accessdate=2008-01-31] Caicedo was described by his manager as one of the great South American talents and was also compared to Adriano. [cite news | date=2008-01-31 | url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=503855&cc=5901 | title=City poised for double striker transfer swoop | publisher=ESPNsoccernet | accessdate=2008-01-31] He made his debut on 10 February 2008 in a 2-1 away win against rivals Manchester United, coming on in the second half.

He ended the season with 10 appearances in the Premier League, all of them coming on as a substitute. He didn't manage any goals during these 10 appearances. With the arrival of the 2008/2009 season, competition for a place as a striker has been tipped to get fiercer with the arrival of Jô from CSKA Moskva and Robinho coming from Real Madrid. The return to fitness of Valeri Bojinov, Benjani Mwaruwari,Ched Evans and Darius Vassell as well as the English prodigy Daniel Sturridge, and many have been dissatisfied with Caicedo's performances in the English club.

International career

Caicedo has represented the Ecuador national football team at under-20 and at full international level. In 2007 he was selected to play for Ecuador in the 2007 South American Youth Championship. Moreover, Caicedo was chosen to play for Ecuador's senior national football team by coach Luis Fernando Suárez for two international friendlies against the United States, in which he scored one goal, and Mexico on March 25 and 28, 2007, respectively. Caicedo was picked for the Ecuador squad to compete in the 2007 Copa America and given the number 10 shirt. He made appearances in all three losses to Chile, Mexico, and Brazil as a substitute but impressed greatly his talent and skill.

He is considered by many people including journalists as the second best Ecuadorian player of this generation after Wigan Athletic's winger Antonio Valencia. As at 27 June 2008, he has already represented his country 15 times and scored 2 goals although he is still only 20 years of age.

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=45227|name=Felipe Caicedo
* [http://www.felipecaicedo20.com/ Official website of Felipe Caicedo]