Arsenal are preparing a £75 million offer for Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo, according to reports.
The Gunners have made Caicedo their priority target in the closing stages of the January transfer window and their need to recruit a new central midfielder has been heightened following the injury to Mohamed Elneny.
Arsenal have already had two bids rejected for the Ecuador international, the most recent of which was £65m plus an additional £5m in add-ons.
According to The Sun, Arsenal are returning to the table for a third time and have raised their offer to £70m plus a further £5m in bonuses.
The report claims that Brighton have told Arsenal that Caicedo is not for sale, despite the midfielder publicly pushing for the move to go through.
In a surprise statement on Friday evening, Caicedo made it clear to Brighton that he wants to join Arsenal before the window closes on Tuesday.
‘I am proud to be able to bring in a record transfer fee for Brighton which would allow them to reinvest it and help the club continue to be successful,’ the Ecuador international said in a statement.
‘The fans have taken me into their hearts and they will always be in my heart so I hope they can understand why I want to take up this magnificent opportunity.’
When asked about Caicedo’s situation before Brighton’s 2-1 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday, the club’s head coach Roberto De Zerbi said: ‘Moises is a good guy, we will see tomorrow and the next days what happens.
‘We hope he will stay with us until the end of the season but this is a question for the club and Moises.
‘Moises is a good guy. I think in life you can make mistakes. For every one there are many solutions and we will see the best solution for the club and for him and for us.’
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