Brighton Captain Reveals Teammate Rallied Round Caicedo Amid Arsenal Offers

Brighton Captain Reveals Teammate Rallied Round Caicedo Amid Arsenal Offers

Elijah Odetokun
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:25 PM
In this article:
English Premier League logo
ENG Premier League
England
  • Arsenal saw two bids as high as £70m rejected for Moises Caicedo in the January window
  • Brighton took their stance and blocked the Ecuadorian's move away from the club
  • Club captain Lewis Dunk has now revealed what it was like in the dressing room during the window

Brighton are a club reputable for selling their star players to bigger clubs and have made important sales over the years of players including Marc Cucurella to Chelsea and Ben White to Arsenal.

There however was a twist when it came to the sale of midfielder Moises Caicedo who was subject of transfer interest Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United with the Gunners lodging two official bids.

The Seagulls stance from the get go was the player is not for sale and they never bulged to any of the Gunner's bid or the players emotional public statement persuading them to let him go.

Moises Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma, Pervis Estupinian, Brighton, English Premier League, Bournemouth.
Caicedo celebrating joyfully with his teammates after Kaoru Mitoma scored a last minute winner against Bournemouth. Photo by Mike Hewitt.
Source: Getty Images

Dunk reveals teammate supported Caicedo

As reported by Eurosport, Chelsea last season submitted a £43m bid to Ajax to sign Mexican midfielder which was rejected as it came when the club could no longer replace him, the Blues have not gone back for the player.

Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ click on "Recommended for you" and enjoy!

This certainly would have been part of what struck fear in the hearts of Caicedo that he may never have the big opportunity again. Speaking to talkSPORT as quoted by Metro UK, Brighton captain Lewis Dunk claimed teammates helped the player calm.

‘Obviously it was a difficult situation for him and these things happen in football. 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,’ he said.

The 21 year old will certainly get his dream move in the summer as he would not be short of suitors and Dunk admittedly claim they are happy to have him till the end of the season but who knows till when.

‘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,’ he added.

Caicedo's agent unhappy with Brighton

Brighton players may have been happy for Caicedo to stay, his agent blasted the club for denying the young lad a dream move away from the AMEX Stadium, as earlier reported by Sports Brief.

He also revealed his controversial public statement was done with the permission of the club who were made aware of his desire to take the next step in his career.

Arsenal signed experienced midfielder Jorginho from Chelsea for £12m instead, to provide cover for star midfielder Thomas Partey.

Authors
Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.
Tags
Transfers