Humble. Grateful. Those are two words that immediately come to mind when you sit down and speak with Moises Caicedo.

He may have only turned 23 last month but Moi is already one of the best central midfielders in the world. Not that you would know it when you speak to him.

Within minutes of our conversation starting, it is clear to see the huge impact his family and the Santo Domingo community had on him growing up – and continues to have on him even now he is living thousands of miles away.

Caicedo says: ‘My first memory of football was playing in the streets with my friends. I enjoyed it a lot because every time I played with them, it was something special. We would watch our idols on TV and then go to play football.

‘Growing up in Santo Domingo was amazing. I wish I could go back to play with my friends and be with my parents again. It was so nice to grow up there because I learned from all of my friends and my brothers the right way to become a great player and a good person. Everyone in my city knew I wanted to become a great player and that is why I had the right path.'

Moi was the youngest of ten siblings; he has seven brothers and two sisters. He did not live with all of them during his childhood, as many had moved out and started their own families by the time he was born, but they would still visit his parents regularly. The Caicedos remain a close-knit family.

The four brothers he lived with had a big impact on not only the footballer but also the man he would become, and along with his parents, continue to be a huge source of motivation even to this day.

‘My family is so good and I am grateful to God that I have such an amazing family,' Caicedo explains. 'I always try to support them because they always supported me with boots and things like that. For example, my brothers went without food to buy boots for me and that is something I always keep in my mind.

'It is most important to be grateful and I am so happy to have my parents and my big family. They have been with me in every step I have made.

‘My Mum didn’t have stable work so would sell soap, sell flowers when it was Valentine’s Day. Things like that to help us. My Dad would work as someone who would help shoppers with their bags and things like that.

'My Dad is a great example to me because he worked hard to make sure we had food every day. I will always remember that. They never left us, they were always with us, and it is why I am so grateful to God that I now have the opportunity to compensate them for all the hard work they did for us and I try to help them in every moment I have.’

Caicedo's appreciation extends to those outside of his immediate family too.

Growing up in Ecuador's fourth largest city, Santo Domingo, a young Moi was playing outside his house when a local football coach, Ivan Guerra, was taken aback by how well he was striking the ball with both feet at such a young age.

He struck up a conversation with Caicedo and the youngster went on to play for his team Barcelona, named after the top-flight Ecuadorian club.

By the age of ten, Moi had attracted the attention of the professional club Espoli and soon started to play up at under-12 level.

He would remain with Espoli until around 14 when his brother helped arrange a trial at Independiente de Valle, who had one of the best academies in South America and was based only a couple of hours away.

Guerra continued to play a huge role in Caicedo's life long after the midfielder had joined professional sides, helping the young talent with football boots, bus fare to training, providing lifts to matches, and even acting as his alarm clock - something Ivan spoke about during an interview with The Athletic.

‘He is really important to me and special to me,' Caicedo says of Guerra. 'From the beginning, in my first steps, he was with me, he supported me with money, boots, with everything I needed.

‘It is why whenever I go back to Ecuador, I try to see him and enjoy some time with him. He is very special to me. He always helped me in every step I have taken.’

It is why after his first appearances at a World Cup in 2022, Caicedo returned to Santo Domingo to help Guerra with a charity tournament he was hosting.

‘He called me after the World Cup and said ‘congratulations for the World Cup’ and asked me if I would like to play in the streets with my friends there,' Caicedo continues.

'I told him of course because whenever I go back to Ecuador, I always want to play with my friends because I remember what it was like when I was young. Having the chance to see the people in my community and have the chance to take photos with them was amazing for me.

‘The young guys there, they look at me because I am an example to them. It is why I try to do my best in everything I do because I know I have a lot of young people looking up to me.’

Caicedo's rise has not been without its challenges though, after he was sidelined for almost a year in his mid-to-late teens after requiring knee surgery.

But his potential was undeniable and it wasn't long after his debut for Independiente at 17 that people started describing Moi as one of the most exciting talents in South America.

Nicknamed the Octopus, because of the way he would constantly intercept the ball and make tackles, he was part of the senior Independiente team that won the Copa Sudamericana - South America's secondary competition - in 2019 and a year later captained the club to the Under-20 Libertadores, where the Ecuadorian side beat a River Plate team that included Enzo Fernandez 2-1 in the final.

Later that year came the first of his senior Ecuador appearances and such is Caicedo's talent and reliability that he had already surpassed 50 caps before his 23rd birthday.

A move to Europe was inevitable and there was some surprise that Brighton & Hove Albion managed to secure his services, with bigger and wealthier clubs also heavily linked.

It was the first time Caicedo lived away from his family and he struggled initially on the pitch and off it, only featuring for the Seagulls' Under-23s during the rest of the 2020/21 campaign.

A loan spell to Beerschot in Belgium saw Caicedo start slowly before going on to make a big impact for the Pro League strugglers.

Brighton decided to recall the midfielder early and by the end of the season, he was a regular under Graham Potter. The rest is history.

Caicedo says: ‘Joining Brighton was really good and I was so happy in one sense but I was also so sad because I had to leave my family and had to leave everything in Ecuador. But I knew I had to adapt because it was my new home.

‘COVID was really hard for me because I left my family, it was a different language, different food, there was the time difference, but I got used to it over time and I tried to adapt to the team because I knew it would be hard.

‘I missed my family a lot but I trained hard, I kept going and kept going, and then after two-and-a-half years I was able to join Chelsea.’

The announcement of Caicedo's signing was heart-warming, as a cherished photograph taken with his mother in Ecuador years earlier was recreated at Cobham.

‘The picture was really special to me,' Caicedo says. 'I would have liked to have had my Dad in it also because they are always with me and I want to celebrate every step I have with them because they are my inspiration.

‘I am where I am now because of them. Even now, they keep reminding me to be humble with every person because it is the most important thing and I listen to them because they always want the best for me.

‘I always supported Chelsea because N’Golo Kante played for Chelsea and he was my inspiration – he and Claude Makelele. I didn’t watch Makelele live but I would watch videos of him. I grew up watching them and they were my inspiration to become a professional player.

‘So when I got an agent, I asked him if it would be possible to get a Chelsea shirt and the next time I saw him, he brought a shirt for me. It was special for me. I would have liked to have had Kante on the back but I was still so excited just to have the shirt.’

Fast forward to the modern day and Caicedo is one of the best central midfielders in the world; a player who can do everything a coach would want in that position.

But whilst he might be a rising global star on the pitch, there is no sign of ego off it. And we come back to those two words: humble and grateful.

‘When I go back to Ecuador for the holidays, I always try to talk to the young guys because sometimes they need some words to help show how they can become footballers too,' Caicedo says. ‘I know I am an example to those in Ecuador so I try to do my best inside the pitch and outside the pitch.

‘Everywhere I went in Ecuador, everybody tried to help me, and I learned from everyone. They taught me how important it was to be a good person.

‘I always knew I wanted this moment to arrive but the most important thing is to be a great person. I try to listen to people who have tried to help me because they have always wanted the best for me.

‘It was great to meet these people on the way because they helped me a lot. Now I am so grateful to all the people I met on the way and now look at where I am. I am a better person than I am a footballer and that is because of them, and I am so proud of myself.'