Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo has been told to stay away from training until after Tuesday’s transfer deadline after he handed in a transfer request on Friday night amid interest from Arsenal and Chelsea this January.
The Ecuadorian midfielder was subject to a £55m bid earlier in the transfer window from the Blues, while Arsenal saw their £60m offer rejected on Friday as they looked to strengthen their midfield ranks in search of a first Premier League trophy since 2004.
It led to Caicedo, who had previously claimed that he was focused on remaining with Brighton until the end of the season, handing in an extraordinary public transfer request on social media, revealing that “I am proud to be able to bring in a record transfer fee for Brighton which would allow them to reinvest it and help the club continue to be successful”.
And, he subsequently missed training on Saturday, and is set to continue to be sidelined as Brighton have told him to stay away from the club until after the transfer deadline in order to clear his head ahead of the second half of the season.
Superb on Saturday! 💪 @LaTri 🇪🇨 pic.twitter.com/zwL5i6TbzU
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 15, 2022
Meanwhile, they continue to ‘categorically’ tell interested parties that he is not for sale despite his desire to leave, with the club having reportedly set an astronomical £100m price tag on his head in the final days of the transfer window.
It could, as Brighton hope, force both Arsenal and Chelsea to look elsewhere, with the Gunners having been linked to Italy’s Ibrahima Bamba and Spain’s Martin Zubimendi in recent days as they look to find cover for Thomas Partey amid fears Mohamed Elneny could be out for the remainder of the season through injury.
