Fabrizio Romano has provided an exclusive update on the Moises Caicedo transfer saga in the latest edition of his CaughtOffside column the Daily Briefing.
Caicedo is emerging as one of the most in-demand midfielders in the game at the moment after some outstanding performances in his time with Brighton, with Arsenal and Chelsea being strongly linked him with the Ecuador international this January.
Still, for the time being it seems Romano is not aware of any new bids from either club, even if the London giants have both had some talks on the player’s side.
Romano admits it’s a “crazy” saga, and one that he expects could remain open right until Deadline Day.
“Despite reports to the contrary, I’m not aware of second Arsenal bid submitted on Saturday, let’s see on Sunday what happens,” Romano said. “The last bid was the one I mentioned on Friday: £60m, rejected. Brighton insist they want to keep Caicedo, not an easy one.
“Arsenal are pushing on Caicedo deal also on player side, Chelsea already had conversations on player side but their last bid was £55m ten days ago; rejected too.
“For sure it’s a crazy situation and so it can be open until the Deadline Day.”
Arsenal could really do with bringing in a top young talent like Caicedo as soon as possible, with the 21-year-old having the potential to turn Mikel Arteta’s side into more serious title contenders.
The Gunners are still ahead of Manchester City at the moment, but they don’t have quite the same squad depth as their rivals, so would do well to be less reliant on Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka.
Chelsea, meanwhile, still need to rebuild after a difficult season, and Caicedo could be ideal to strengthen their midfield.
The Blues have both N’Golo Kante and Jorginho looking a little over the hill now, and both players are currently on course to be free agents in the summer.