Chelsea’s third Caicedo bid rejected by Brighton

Premier League club side Brighton have shown their intention of keeping Ecuadorian midfielder Moses Caicedo by rejecting the latest bid by Chelsea for the midfielder.

Caicedo has been linked with a move away from Brighton since the January transfer window, but the midfielder was denied the opportunity of joining Arsenal, and rather Brighton offered a new contractual agreement.

Although there were mooted interests from the Gunners this summer, it was not as keen as it was in the winter transfer window, with Chelsea showing more interest in signing the midfielder.

However, after two bids and despite improved offers, with the latest being £80m, Brighton are still unshaken about their wish to keep the 21-year-old.

While many have said that Brighton’s resolve is similar to the kind of strategy they used in getting an improved offer for Marc Cucurella, Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has indicated that he wants Caicedo in his team for next season.

“At the moment, Moises is a Brighton player. I spoke with [club owner] Tony Bloom, and he told me if the conditions don’t change, Moises will stay with us. For me, it should be great news because it is difficult to find another player like Moises. If Moises leaves, we have to find another player of the same level because we deserve to play the next season with the same [quality]. We deserve to play in the Europa League, and we want to compete at our best.” De Zerbi said.

However, this is contrary to the reports that indicated that after reaching an agreement to sign an extension in February, Brighton, De Zerbi, and Caicedo agreed that the player will still be able to leave the club this summer.

Brighton qualified for the UEFA Europa League after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season. The club is currently having its pre-season in the US.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu