Moises Caicedo has been welcomed back into the Brighton fold with open arms despite publicly requesting a transfer to Arsenal.
Seagulls centre-back Lewis Dunk says the squad have shrugged off the Ecuadorian midfielder’s attempt to sign for the Premier League leaders in January, with two big-money bids rejected by Brighton.
Caicedo, 21, was back playing for Brighton in the weekend win over Bournemouth as he featured off the bench.
And Dunk accepts that the south coast club may still lose him in the summer but insists that Arsenal’s failure last month was a “massive statement” from Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
“Obviously it was a difficult situation for him and these things happen in football,” he told talkSPORT. “It’s not the first and won’t be the last time players at a football club having this going on over their head.
“He’s a young boy and we stick with him. He’s a great lad and obviously a fantastic player. Who knows how long we’ll have him for and we’re grateful to have him for at least the rest of the season and hopefully for longer.
“I think it’s a massive statement from the club, standing their ground. Obviously we’ve sold players over the years to bigger clubs but I think it’s a great statement to show that we want to keep him and I think rightly so.”
