CEO says ‘people forget’ £115m player almost signed for Arsenal

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Arsenal have had their fair share of transfer near misses under Mikel Arteta.

Mykhaylo Mudryk was very nearly an Arsenal player before Chelsea swooped in to get that deal done, while the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak were high profile Arsenal striker targets before Viktor Gyokeres arrived.

Speaking on The Football Boardroom, Brighton CEO, Paul Barber, has been discussing another of Arsenal’s transfer close calls.

Indeed, according to the Brighton chief, at one point he had to resist offers from Arsenal to sign Moises Caicedo, a few months before he eventually joined Chelsea in a then-record £115m deal.

Brighton nearly sold Moises Caicedo to Arsenal

Barber spoke about Caicedo’s situation when he left Brighton.

The CEO says he actually resisted a move from Arsenal for the midfielder, claiming that the deal didn’t suit Brighton at the time.

However, six months later, Caicedo would be sold to Chelsea for what was then a British-record fee for £115m.

“And you know people forget that we resisted selling Moises Caicedo to Arsenal in the months before he was ultimately sold to Chelsea because it didn’t suit us. It might have suited Moyes and his representatives and it certainly would have suited Arsenal at that time but it didn’t suit us. So we resisted that,” Barber said.

Arsenal’s plan for Moises Caicedo

Arsenal were interested in Caicedo in January 2023, and that interest carried into the summer.

Interestingly, this was a transfer plan that ran concurrent with Arsenal’s interest in Declan Rice.

At one point, Arsenal’s plan was to use Caicedo and Rice together in what would have been one hell of a midfield pairing.

Of course, as things have shaken out, Rice has now found a natural pairing with Martin Zubimendi at Arsenal, and that has ultimately led to a Premier League title.

Who knows? By the end of next week, perhaps Rice and Zubimendi will be European champions too, while Caicedo will not be playing Champions League football next season with Chelsea.