Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has insisted Chelsea cannot “buy our spirit” after the transfer saga involving Moises Caicedo took a fresh set of twists and turns.
Liverpool appeared to have gazumped the Blues with a £111million bid for the Ecuadorian, which Jurgen Klopp confirmed on Friday morning, however shortly afterwards reports emerged that Caicedo had rejected the offer in favour of joining Chelsea.
The west Londoners are still yet to agree a transfer fee with Brighton for the player, who has made clear all summer that he wants to move to the capital.
For De Zerbi, the affair has already been “forgotten” as he looks to guide the Seagulls to another successful season starting against Luton on Saturday.
“I have already forgotten about Moises,” he told reporters. “I'm really proud of the players we have in the squad.
“We want to keep improving. The credit goes to the club. Bigger clubs can buy our players but they can't buy our soul or spirit.
“We don't have enough [players] yet, we need to complete the squad. I want players who want to come here.
“We are Brighton, we achieved a big target last year - the same as Liverpool, better than Chelsea. I would like players who are proud to play in Brighton.”
De Zerbi refused to discuss his plans for replacing Caicedo amid reports of a bid for Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus collapsing.
“We are not speaking about targets yet,” he added. “We must wait until the end of the transfer market and after the first few games.
“We need to start in a good way and then we can speak about targets.”
