Brighton keeping Caicedo gives ‘Big Six’ entitlement a bloody nose
It is perhaps another sign of Brighton’s progression that the Moises Caicedo transfer saga has taken up so much time and space in the past week with Chelsea and then Arsenal fans obsessing over an Albion player.
The debate has raged online, on radio phone-ins, on social media and in the sports pages of the national and local press.
And now it looks to be done. Caicedo stays at the Amex for the rest of the season before a now-inevitable departure to one of the Big Six in the summer, unless he (or his agents) have an unlikely change of heart and mind and decides to stay into 2023-24. Who knows, Brighton might be in the Champions League by then?
It remains to be seen whether Roberto De Zerbi, his coaching staff and the backroom teams that look after players can get Caicedo’s head in the right place for the Bournemouth game this weekend.
Brighton will be hoping that they can with gaps in midfield left by injury to Adam Lallana and Alexis Mac Allister’s suspension.
The Albion do have flexibility in Jeremy Sarmiento, Pascal Gross and Billy Gimour. New signing Yasin Ayari is very unlikely to be thrown in at the deep end and it is unclear if Andrew Moran is fully ready for the jump from the under 21s.
Some Arsenal fans seemed to think signing Caicedo would be a formality after their club completed a £27 million deal for Leandro Trossard.
But there is a huge difference between the two situations in terms of where the players are in their careers, where the interest has come in the transfer window, where Brighton are at in terms of being able to replace them, and what we need to challenge for Europe or the FA Cup.
The club were right to let Trossard go – as with Graham Potter, Marc Cucurella, Yves Bissouma and Ben White, when cover and succession were in place – but not with Caicedo.
That we are talking about Ayari and Moran in terms of the Bournemouth match is an indication of why Brighton could not afford to sell a central midfielder, having already lost Enock Mwepu to retirement and with no return date yet for Jakub Moder.
It cannot be repeated often enough that we would not attract talent like Bissouma, Ayari and Kaoru Mitoma if we were to regularly block all further career progression.
However, the club has every right to ensure its squad isn’t stripped out and contracts ripped up to suit the interests of agents and the wealthier clubs every time they come calling.
Clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea have the money to attract the best talent, even if that’s just to deny competitors the players they need to breach the Big Six cartel.
We of course have the same ability to poach good players from the Championship and top leagues elsewhere, and ability which will only grow with European qualification.
What sticks in my throat is the manipulation by agents of their players, as we clearly saw with Trossard and Caicedo.
Whilst it is an agent’s job to get their clients the best deal possible, using a player’s social media pages to play clubs off against each other is wrong.
It is harmful to the players who the agents should have a duty of care to. They should put their clients first, not just exist to grab a huge share of inflated transfer fees.
What has been just as unpleasant is the attitude of so many Big Six club fans. Brighton have been described as a “feeder club” who should be grateful for the money and interest and not hold players back from joining them. This “Super League” mentality is corrosive.
When we are above Liverpool and Chelsea in the table and have won on our past two visits to Arsenal, we have every right to turn down transfer demands if it is in our interest. Brighton may not be their equals off the pitch in terms of money but we are certainly competitors on it.
None of the Big Six have a God-given right to the best players and the top six places. Their fans should drop the sense of entitlement they have because of their histories and deep-pocketed American or Middle Eastern owners.
Chelsea could spend £250 million in this transfer window alone. How is that fair or sustainable? And how can it be justified if they finish below Brighton this season?
Maybe there is an argument for dropping the January transfer window, or at least limiting it to signings from outside the Premier League.
That way, the sabotaging of other teams punching above their weight via huge transfers and wage offers mid-season is no longer possible.
Once the window closes, we can at least enjoy a couple of months before speculation over who the Big Six will cherry pick from Brighton starts up again.
Time to focus on the football, the thrilling attacking style we are playing and the twin prospects of Europe and Wembley.
Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC
