Caicedo arrived from Brighton in a huge £115M deal that many Chelsea fans are now arguing is justifiable now that the young midfielder is starting to add goals to his game much like the one he snatched against Liverpool last week.
Lampard makes huge comparisons
The 23-year-old grabbed the spotlight after a player-of-the-match performance which has sparked debate about where he ranks amongst Chelsea’s legendary midfielders.
The Ecuador international has now been put up against the likes of Kante and Makelele this week by none other than Lampard, who believes he is growing into a world-class midfielder.
"They (Kante and Makelele) were both amazing," Lampard said.
"I played with Maka obviously and he was a different type to N'Golo, because N'Golo could really get around, whereas Maka basically sat in front a lot.
"But I see because of the style of play, he (Caicedo) can do the Makelele break-up stuff really, really well, close down space really quickly.
"Now he's shown last season and this, that he's got the sort of Kante bits in his game because N'Golo could do that, could arrive at the edge of the box and score."
The comparisons are justified
Caicedo helped win both the Club World Cup and Conference League last term and has already scored 3 goals this term, surpassing his tally from the entire 2024/25 season.
Lampard added the comparison of Caicedo and his legendary midfield predecessors justified as he continues to help The Blues in all competitions.
"What he's got to do now is just turn out consistently for the next season and hopefully try and win things with Chelsea," Lampard said.
"It (the comparison) makes sense, he's doing really well."