‘It’s ridiculous’ – Pundit slams Brighton for not accepting £70m Caicedo offer from Arsenal

Danny Murphy thinks that Brighton could regret their decision to not let Moises Caicedo leave in the January window as Arsenal’s bids were rejected.

The Gunners were prepared to pay as much as £70million in January, but Brighton stood firm on their stance.

Brighton were adamant from the start that he was not for sale as they had already lost Leandro Trossard earlier in the window to Arsenal.

Chelsea also held an interest in Caicedo, but they instead opted for a deadline deal for Enzo Fernandez.

Caicedo has been having an excellent season with Brighton up until this point, but Murphy thinks that they were foolish for not cashing in on the player.

“I don’t agree [with what Brighton did],” he told talkSPORT. “For £70million I would have driven Caicedo there.

“They won’t think they needed to, because they think they’ll get it in the summer But it’s ridiculous. He could do his cruciate next month.

“I understand why many would say they still should have [sold to Arsenal], but they’ve got a manager in the door and they’ve already let Leandro Trossard go [to Arsenal], they need to give him the tools to do a job.

“Something like this can change the mindset of a player overnight. Subconsciously on the pitch he might be thinking about having missed out on that move, and that can weigh heavy on you.

“I’m sure he’s a good kid and he’s professional, but I’m just saying it’s a possibility it will weigh on him.

“And the fact is £70m, he’s a good player, but that’s a more than fair price.”

Brighton themselves stand a chance of finishing in a European spot this season and so it makes sense they were unwilling to let Caicedo leave.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side are currently sixth in the table and they are projected to pick up 62 points this season based on their current points per game.

As Arsenal could not strike a deal with Brighton, they instead got a move over the line for Jorginho.

Jamie Carragher shared his thoughts on the signing of Jorginho and provided the pros and cons of the move.

“Arsenal have gone for [Moises] Caicedo, but maybe they cannot get that done from Brighton, so they have gone for Jorginho, who is an interesting one,” Carragher told Sky Sports.

“I can totally understand it, but I was listening to people talk about it today, and he is not the sort of style for Arsenal’s play, which is so quick, fast and energetic now and he is the opposite of that and I get that argument.

“He is a player that has won the Champions League, he has won a European Championship in the last few years, so he is a top player, there is no doubt about that, but he is a different style of player.”

READ MORE: Man Utd jog and managerial upgrades – each Premier League club’s best decision of the season