Arsenal told of two Caicedo alternatives for Arteta after bid rejected

Premier League transfer rumours as Deadline Day approaches

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Arsenal have been told of two Moises Caicedo alternatives in the January transfer window in Amadou Haidara and Sandro Tonali after Mikel Arteta’s side had two bids swiftly turned down by Brighton. The Gunners stepped up their pursuit of the Ecuadorian late in the month but the Seagulls have been firm in their stance that the 21-year-old will not be sold mid-season.

Arsenal have had bids of £60million and £70m turned down by Brighton and it is unlikely that they will return with a third offer as Brighton have made it clear that despite Caicedo’s public plea to leave, they are unwilling to sanction any more sales after letting Leandro Trossard move to the Emirates for an initial £20m earlier this month.

Arteta may still be on the lookout for a midfielder as he searches for more reinforcements for the second half of the season in their title charge, perhaps further prompted after a fresh injury to Mohamed Elneny. West Ham captain Declan Rice has been mentioned with a move to north London, though he is also unlikely to leave while his side are fighting a relegation battle.

Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchinson has insisted that Arsenal would be wise to not improve their offer to Brighton for Caicedo and feels that the likes of Haidara and Tonali would be more worthwhile investments this month.

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“Caicedo is a very, very good player but there’s lots of Caicedos out there,” Hutchinson told ESPN. “There are loads of them and if he is valued at £80m and someone is willing to pay Brighton £80m, I would snap their hand off.

“I’ll tell you where they are [Caicedo alternatives], Haidara at RB Leipzig he’s another one, Tonali who is better at AC Milan, wouldn’t put Sander Berge in that but a young player, there are loads of these number eights out there that can close down. Caicedo, I think in about 40 games has scored one goal, there are lots of Caicedos. £80m?”

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Brighton had an offer rejected by Leipzig for Haidara as they viewed the Mali international as a potential Caicedo replacement, though the Bundesliga side do not wish to sell the 24-year-old so late in the window as an adequate replacement would be hard to find.

Arteta hinted that he would like to see more business before the transfer window closes at 11pm on Tuesday. “We need some more cover in midfield ideally if we can,” he said before his side’s 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City. “But obviously, in this market, it’s very complicated to do that.

“But as I always say the most important thing is that we get the performances and the time on the pitch that we need with the players we have available today that are already really good. If there’s anything else available that can make us better we’ll look at it.”

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