The agent of reported Liverpool target Moises Caicedo has confirmed that his client was desperate to leave Brighton in January.
Caicedo was reportedly the subject of late bids from Arsenal and Chelsea, both of which were rejected. Having then put out a public plea for Brighton to let him go, the 21-year-old sat out of the weekend clash with Liverpool.
In the end, Caicedo ended up staying put. But now, speaking to Marca90 via Ole, agent Manuel Sierra has suggested that the Ecuadorian still wants to go ahead with a move.
âThe offers were received, you see whatâs on the table and Moises says he wants to go forward, which is his lifelong dream,â he said of last weekâs bids.
âThat it is an opportunity that may not be repeated in life. And we helped him write the statement. In that statement he expresses his wish and his gratitude towards the club because they gave him the possibility to fulfil his dream of playing in the Premier League. We donât know what can happen tomorrow, maybe he trains and gets injured. We canât know whatâs going to happen.
âMoises asked the club for permission to publish the statement, he is the one who does not train and he does not go to the game [vs. Liverpool] because they decide to give him free at the weekend. Brighton didnât push him away, They understand the situation and love him very much. It was a consensual agreement.â
Caicedo forced to stay put⊠for now
Judging from Sierraâs comments, Caicedoâs stance isnât going to change anytime soon. Having successfully staved off losing their player last month, surely Brighton have no chance of doing the same in the summer.
If he is back on the market, then hopefully Liverpool will be involved this time. The Reds have been heavily reported as being one of the sides most interested in signing Caicedo.
It had looked like that interest would be rendered an irrelevance. But in the end, their decision to sit out of the January market didnât cost them their chance with the player.
As we know, Liverpool will be more inclined to do midfield business in the summer window. It remains to be seen whether Caicedo is one that they go after. With him reportedly set to be available for a lower fee than this winter though, heâs certainly an option.
But Brighton still wonât let the Ecuador international go on the cheap, you can be sure of that. This whole saga will no doubt have only strengthened their resolve to get a fair price for Caicedo.
Obviously, the reported ÂŁ60m bid they turned down from Arsenal wasnât deemed to be that. Many would disagree, but the Seagulls have a tendency to dig their feet in. Dig them in too far though, and they could cost this young midfielder his dream move. That isnât a good look for any team, no matter how smart you think you are.