Arsenal is prepared to walk away from their pursuit of Moises Caicedo after Brighton knocked back a second bid for the Ecuador international, according to reports. The Gunners made a fresh £ 70 million offer for the midfielder on Sunday but it was swiftly rejected. 

Mikel Arteta is desperate to sign a midfielder before Tuesday’s transfer deadline. Caicedo is the north Londoners’ top target and has asked to leave the Seagulls.

A £60m proposal was put forward midway through last week, following a failed £55m offer by Chelsea. However, Arsenal was knocked back and has now had a £70m bid knocked back in a further blow. 

Mohamed Elneny’s injury makes the demand for a new midfielder all the more necessary. Arteta has very few options outside of his usual trio of Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and club captain Martin Odegaard. 

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal could now walk away from their interest in Caicedo to focus on other targets. At the moment, it seems unlikely that they will make a third bid for the combative midfielder. 

Caicedo has been asked to stay away from Brighton’s training ground until Wednesday and was left out of the squad for their FA Cup win over Liverpool on Sunday. After the game, head coach Roberto De Zerbi appeared to give Arsenal hope that they might be able to complete a deal. 

The Italian said Brighton was ‘prepared’ to move on without Caicedo despite them wanting to keep him until the end of the campaign. He said: “I would like that he can finish the season with us but we are ready to go forward without him.

“I can understand him because when you are 21, and you receive the request of a big, big team that is playing in Europe. I can understand… Caicedo is a very, very good guy.

Source:express.co.uk