Arsenal have seen a second bid for Moises Caicedo rejected by Brighton & Hove Albion, according to talkSPORT.
Caicedo has made his desire to leave the Amex Stadium clear to Brighton, with Arsenal currently front runners for his signature.
However, the Seagulls have declared the Ecuador international non-transferrable this month and seem unshaken in their resolve to hang on to the player until summer.
Arsenal have already signed Leandro Trossard from Brighton, and Caicedo could be the second player to switch the Amex for the Emirates Stadium in the space of two weeks if the Gunners can convince Brighton to sell.
After seeing their opening £60 million bid knocked back, the Gunners returned with a higher offer believed to be around £70m.
However, their second bid has also been rejected by the relentless Seagulls, who have slapped a hefty £90m price tag on a player who cost them barely £5m in February 2021.
Brighton have made it clear that they do not want to part with the player this month, especially with barely enough time to bring in a replacement.
The Sussex club had lodged a bid to sign RB Leipzig midfielder Amadou Haidara in anticipation of Caicedo’s departure.
But their offer was knocked back by the German outfit, which perhaps strengthened their stance on Caicedo’s future.
While Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has made it clear that he would prefer Caicedo stays until the end of the season, the former Shakhtar Donetsk manager also claimed his side are ready to move on if the 21-year-old leaves this month.
Caicedo has been dropped from the squad since releasing a transfer request-like statement on social media and will only rejoin the team when the window closes.
De Zerbi started the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Liverpool with a midfield pairing of Pascal Gross and World Cup winner Alexis MacAllister, and Brighton emerged 2-1 winners courtesy of Kaoru Mitoma’s last-minute stunner.
Perhaps a sign that the club is truly ready to move on if Caicedo leaves, but the Brighton bosses are adamant they will not lose the midfielder this month.
If Arsenal are also undeterred in their quest to sign the midfielder before Tuesday’s deadline, they may need to break their club-record fee to get the deal done.
