Arsenal have had their fresh £70m bid for midfielder Moises Caicedo rejected by Brighton.
Brighton’s stance remains unchanged and the midfielder is not for sale in January, with the window set to shut today at 11pm. Sky Sports News has been told their position will not change.
Had the Seagulls accepted Arsenal’s latest offer for the 21-year-old, it would have been a club-record transfer, surpassing the £60m sale of Marc Cucurella to Chelsea in the summer.
The Gunners also had their initial £60m offer for Caicedo rejected, which prompted the Colombia international to plead with Brighton to let him leave and join the Premier League leaders in a statement on social media.
Caicedo, who said to Brighton’s official website that he was focused solely on his current club just last week, was told to stay away from training with the Seagulls until after Tuesday’s transfer deadline following his Instagram post.
Leandro Trossard has already swapped Brighton for Arsenal in the current window in a deal worth £27m.
Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi wants Caicedo to stay at Brighton until the end of the season but says the club are “ready to go forward without him”.
“Caicedo is a very good guy and I can understand him,” said De Zerbi after Sunday’s last-gasp FA Cup fourth-round win over Liverpool.
“When you are 21 and you receive the request of a big team, they are playing in European competition, I can understand.” —Sky Sports
