Chelsea could throw a major spanner in Arsenal’s summer plans as they hold a trump card in any pursuit of Moises Caicedo this summer.
Mikel Arteta’s side are reportedly keen on the Brighton midfielder once more before the new season, with the Gunners having three bids for the Ecuadorian star turned down in January, while Chelsea also had one of their own rejected earlier in the same window before ultimately signing Enzo Fernandez from Benfica.
Fast-forward six months, and it appears that the two sides are set to go head to head again. Though Arsenal have made Declan Rice their no.1 target, there are widespread reports that they are keen on adding Caicedo to their squad as well, with Granit Xhaka set to depart after seven years in north London.
Similarly, Chelsea have returned for Caicedo after being gazumped by Paris Saint Germain for Sporting midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who will join the French Champions rather than the west Londoners despite both sides meeting his release clause.
According to the Telegraph, however, the Blues may hold a major advantage over Arsenal in the race for Caicedo, in the form of loanee defender Levi Colwill.
It is reported that Brighton are set to demand ‘significantly more than £70 million’ for Caicedo this summer, after he signed a new contract with the club in February.
The Seagulls have already seen a £30m bid for the England U21 defender turned down, with Chelsea seeing him as a key part of their future plans despite having plenty of other defenders currently ahead of him in the pecking order.
However, if they could manage to land Caicedo on the cheap by using the defender, who is yet to play for the Blues, it may leave Arsenal forced to look elsewhere this summer.
