Chelsea have been handed a huge boost to their chances of signing Moises Caicedo this summer. The 21-year-old midfielder was heavily linked with an exit from Brighton in January but a move failed to materialise.
Despite Caicedo's best efforts to leave the Amex Stadium, the Seagulls blocked his exit. football.london understands that Arsenal submitted two bids for the Ecuador international but both were rejected.
It was said that the Blues were also preparing a bid for Caicedo in the event that they missed out on Enzo Fernandez, but Todd Boehly wrapped up a deal for his top-target on deadline day. In March, Caicedo signed a new long-term deal which keeps him on the the south coast until 2027.
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At first, it seemed as if the Ecuadorian's deal ruled out the prospect of a future move, but Roberto De Zerbi's latest comments suggest otherwise. Following Brighton's defeat to Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League season, the Italian admitted that Caicedo may have just played his last game for the club.
"I think that can be the last game of Alexis and Moises, I'm really sorry," said De Zerbi. "They are two great people and two great players.
"We are ready. We have to find other big players to play without Alexis and Moises. If you ask me about Caicedo and Mac Allister, I love them and they are two big, big players and can be in a big, big European team.
"They can play in every competition and are ready to compete for a big team and I hope for them they can play in the best team in the world," added the Seagulls boss. "For Brighton we can still improve [without them] and we can bring in other good players with the transfer market.
"Next year we will be playing in four competitions, the Premier League will be tougher for us for sure and we have to be stronger than this year. At the moment we are not ready to play three games per week, but we are not used to that.
"We will have to work in the transfer market and build a stronger squad with more players. The results we achieved were incredible, but we have the dream to improve these results."
De Zerbi appears to have accepted that Caicedo will leave in the summer, with Chelsea among those who are interested in his signature. That's because he promised the £70million-rated Ecuadorian in January that he would be sold in the summer if a 'good propsosal' is made, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The report states that Brighton will respect the pact De Zerbi and Caicedo made. While this is a huge boost for the Blues, Mauricio Pochettino reportedly faces tough competition from several clubs...
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