Manchester United are among a number of clubs weighing up a move for Brighton star Moises Caicedo this summer.
The defensive midfielder caught the eye in the Seagulls’ 2-1 victory over United a week ago as he helped to spoil Erik ten Hag's first Premier League game at Old Trafford.
And his form in general for both Brighton and Ecuador has brought him on to the radars of several top-flight clubs. Arsenal and West Ham have also been keeping tabs on his progress in England, while overseas heavyweights including Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen are also monitoring his progress on the south coast.
United had previously been interested in Caicedo with the player near the top of former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's list of targets as he attempted to improve his options in the position only for the club to subsequently pull the plug on a move. Brighton swooped to land him from Independiente del Valle in February 2021 for £4.5million. And Graham Potter’s club could expect an excellent return if they were to sell him this month after he established himself in the first team during the second half of last season. Getting him out of Brighton won’t be easy given they don’t need to sell and have already let Marc Cucurella join Chelsea for £60million.
The 20-year-old started the last eight Premier League games of the campaign and scored his first goal in the top flight in the stunning 4-0 victory over United in May. He also impressed in away wins against Arsenal and Spurs, and his size, power and technical ability are earning him plenty of admirers. The youngster is expected to be a key man for Ecuador at the World Cup and is benefiting greatly from the work Potter is doing with him on the south coast.
Meanwhile, United goalkeeper David De Gea fronted up for the club's shocking loss at Brentford on Saturday and claimed the players “panicked” under pressure. United's 4-0 capitulation at the condemned new manager Ten Hag to the worst start by a Red Devils boss since John Chapman in 1921. De Gea took the blame for the first two goals, allowing Josh Dasilva's tame shot to squirm through his hands and then supplying Christian Eriksen with a hospital pass to present Mathias Jensen with the second.
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United's away fans demanded the removal of the American Glazer family as owners, and heckled United players angrily as they boarded the team coach afterwards, De Gea was at least decent enough to face up to the scrutiny. He said: “I must take responsibility, I think I cost two points to the team today. That first goal cannot happen. As a team we should react much better than we did, but I think I cost the team two points. For the first goal, sometimes you think it’s an easy ball and you don’t put the proper focus on the ball - that happens in football and in life, sometimes you make mistakes.”
De Gea became the latest goalkeeper to be embarrassed attempting to play out from the back, and Jensen's finish for the brilliant Bees was far more composed than the errors which preceded it. “I should read the game better - they were pressing really well and high, so maybe I should play longer balls,” admitted the crestfallen United goalkeeper. But that’s football again, it happens, for sure we’re going to learn, we have to learn and we have to play much better than today. Now the most important thing is to keep training well, keep training to help the team, but today was a horrible game.”
De Gea revealed Ten Hag told his his team their first-half capitulation was “unacceptable” in the shell-shocked away dressing room at the interval and that the disaster movie they unfurled in 35 minutes was “horrible.” United were unbeaten in pre-season, and christened the Ten Hag era with cautious optimism, but it has quickly evaporated in back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Brentford. And De Gea conceded the horror shows of last season, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick struggled to turn around the sinking ship, were still playing on the players' minds.
