Arsenal’s refusal to listen to Brighton over their January pursuit of Moises Caicedo has ‘soured’ their relationship with the club and possibly damaged their hopes of signing the midfielder in the summer.
The Gunners saw two bids rejected by the Seagulls in the final days of the January transfer window. The club abandoned their chase on transfer deadline day, instead signing Jorginho from Chelsea in a £12million deal.
Arsenal are expected to return for Caicedo in the summer but Brighton are thought to be unimpressed with their conduct in recent weeks.
Brighton rejected an opening offer of £60million last Friday with the south coast club making it clear that was not a negotiating tactic, but an outright refusal to do business.
The Athletic report Arsenal were informed on Saturday morning that there was no chance of a deal being agreed, with Brighton telling the club to ‘back off’.
The Premier League leaders returned with a second bid of £65million plus £5m in add-ons which received the same treatment, regarded as an ‘irrelevance’ at the Amex Stadium.
Brighton and Arsenal have enjoyed cordial negotiations in the past, when Ben White moved to north London in a £50m deal in 2021 and again this month when Leandro Trossard did likewise in a £27m deal.
But the report adds their attempts to sign Caicedo have ‘soured’ Brighton’s respect for Arsenal and weakened their position in terms of any future attempts to sign any of the club’s star players.
While the Ecuador international is likely to want a big move in the summer, they add his destination is now ‘less likely’ to be Arsenal who have now dropped down the pecking order of ‘clubs Brighton feel comfortable about engaging with regularly’.
Caicedo, who switched agents in January, released a statement shortly after Arsenal’s first bid was rejected, pleading to leave the club.
As a result, the player was told to stay away from training until after the transfer window had closed, missing Sunday’s FA Cup clash against Liverpool as a result.
The Athletic add Brighton’s decision was designed to both protect the player from any more ill-advised moves from his new representatives and block any distractions from the Liverpool game – which they won 2-1 to progress into the sixth round of the competition.
He is expected to return to training this week with Brighton firmly in the race for European qualification this season.
MORE : Arsenal return with £75m bid to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton
MORE : Arsenal will consider walking away from Moises Caicedo deal after Brighton reject latest offer
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