Brighton & Hove Albion have reportedly rejected a second bid from Arsenal for midfielder Moises Caicedo.
The Ecuador international was the subject of a failed £60m offer from the Premier League leaders last week, with Brighton insisting that he is not for sale in January.
Within hours of Arsenal's rejected offer, Caicedo - who has also been linked with Chelsea and Liverpool this month - publicly announced his desire to leave Brighton on social media.
"I am grateful to Mr. Bloom and Brighton for giving me the chance to come to the Premier League and I feel I have always done my best for them. I always play football with a smile and with heart," Caicedo wrote.
"I am the youngest of 10 siblings from a poor upbringing in Santa Domingo in Ecuador. My dream always to be the most decorated player in the history of Ecuador.
"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 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."
Despite Brighton's stance, Arsenal are not giving up hope of a deal before Tuesday's transfer deadline and supposedly tabled a second offer worth a total of £70m on Sunday.
The proposed move would see Brighton receive £65m upfront and a further £5m in performance-related add-ons, but The Athletic claims that the second bid from Arsenal was swiftly turned down.
Roberto De Zerbi's have remained unwavering in their position that Caicedo will not be leaving the club in January, in spite of the fact that he was left out of their squad for Sunday's FA Cup win over Liverpool.
The 21-year-old was supposedly told to stay away from training following his social media announcement, but Brighton still knocked defending champions Liverpool out of the FA Cup courtesy of goals from Lewis Dunk and Kaoru Mitoma in a 2-1 victory.
Following Sunday's victory, Seagulls manager De Zerbi insisted that he wanted to retain Caicedo's services, but the club would also be prepared to move forward without the South American.
"Caicedo is a very, very good guy. I can understand him, when you are 21 and you receive the request of a big, big team that are playing in European competition," De Zerbi told the press.
"I have a big respect for the players and Caicedo is a very good guy. I love him, I respect his decision. I would like it if he can stay and finish the season, but we will see in the next days.
"For sure he is a good guy and only this. I would like him to finish the season with us but we are ready to go forward without him."
Caicedo has made 31 appearances for Brighton in all tournaments since joining in a €5m (£4.4m) from Independiente del Valle in 2021, scoring two goals and registering three assists in that time. body check tags ::
