"Only sufficient if they wanted half the player" – Club CEO reacts to Arsenal's reported £70 million bid for Premier League midfielder

Brighton & Hove Albion CEO Paul Barber has expressed his opinion on Arsenal's reported £70 million winter bid for Moises Caicedo.

Caicedo, 21, was the talk of the town during the winter transfer window as Arsenal lodged two bids for his services. However, Brighton opted to reject the Premier League leaders' £60 million and £70 million offers.

After failing to sign the Ecuadorian midfielder, the Gunners snapped up Jorginho from Chelsea for a fee in the region of £12 million in January.

During an interview with The Beautiful Game podcast, Barber lifted the lid on the winter transfer saga involving Caicedo. When queried about Arsenal's £70 million offer in the final days of January, he responded:

"It was only sufficient if they wanted half the player. Joking aside, we don't ever provide specific numbers. It amuses us when we see numbers in the media because they've not come from us."

Explaining the reasoning behind not offloading Caicedo, Barber said:

"For us, in January, selling Moises wasn't a good move because he was one of our best players in the first half of the season and secondly, we were in a great position in the league, we were still in the FA Cup, we still had a lot of football to play and we want to achieve our best ever finish in the Premier League."

Sharing his thoughts on Brighton and Caicedo, Barber continued:

"The stakes for us in the second half of the season are higher than ever and Moises is a big part of that. He is also a young player who is still learning his game. He is in a faraway country from where he was born and we have a responsibility to do the best for the player long-term, as well as in the short-term for us."

Caicedo, who has a contract until June 2027 at the Amex Stadium, has registered two goals and three assists in 39 matches for his club so far.

Ben Jacobs sheds light on Arsenal's pursuit of 24-year-old in-demand holding midfielder

Speaking to Give Me Sport, CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs stated that Arsenal are confident about snapping up Declan Rice. He said:

"Rice is going to be a priority for them and even at the lower end of estimations, he's going to cost around £75 million. David Moyes has said on record that he believes that Rice should cost equivalent to Enzo Fernandez's British record transfer fee. So, Arsenal are prepared to enter that type of race and they're confident as well."

Rice, 24, has emerged as a hot topic in the past couple of months with his contract set to expire this June. So far, he has netted 12 goals and laid out 13 assists in 229 overall appearances for West Ham United.