Brighton CEO Paul Barber says the club hopes to hold onto Chelsea target Moises Caicedo and "understands" the current interest in the Ecuador international.
Caicedo has become one of the best midfielders in the Premier League during his time at the AMEX and attracted interest from both the Blues and Arsenal during the January transfer window. The midfielder asked to leave but Brighton stood firm and have maintained their not-for-sale stance during the summer so far.
The youngster is said to have skipped training recently in a bid to force through a move to Stamford Bridge and wasn't involved in Brighton's final pre-season friendly of the summer against Rayo Vallecano.
90min understands Brighton have told Caicedo they will not sell him unless their £100m valuation is met. Chelsea are still chasing the 21-year-old and Barber insisted the south coast side do not want him to leave this year.
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He said: "For a young player like Moises at 21, he's probably one of the best midfield players in the world already at his age, and we've had a fantastic time working with him. And we want it to continue, we've got him under a long contract.
"We're also realistic to know there is interest in him. As a young man, that interest is inevitably going to have an impact on your thought process and unsettle you a little bit. We understand that.
"But for now, he's a Brighton player, he's under contract. We expect him to work hard, prepare for the new season and we'll see what happens as the window goes on.
"The window's got a long way to go, we'd love to keep him. He's a really important player, we'll see where we are."
Brighton lost Leandro Trossard to Arsenal in January and have also sold Alexis Mac Allister and Robert Sanchez to Liverpool and Chelsea this window respectively. However, they have responded with incoming deals for Joao Pedro, Mahmoud Dahoud, James Milner, Bart Verbruggen and Igor Julio.
A club-record £34.5m deal has also been agreed with Ajax for Ghana forward Mohammed Kudus, though an agreement over personal terms still hasn't been reached.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Moises Caicedo: CEO reveals why Brighton 'understand' Chelsea interest.
