Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi is starting to sound a bit like a manager who’s seen the last of his player. With Caicedo frozen out of the squad, similar to how ex-teaammate Leandro Trossard was frozne out, De Zerbi has spoken about how it’s time to “go forward without him”. It was just a few days ago that De Zerbi said that Caicedo is “only focused on Brighton. I hope he can stay with us until the end of the season”. Happier times on the southern shore. Those were the days. De Zerbi’s more-recent words seem to insinuate that a parting of ways is inevitable, and the only question is whether happens in the next few days or in the summer.

I would like him to finish the season with us but we are ready to go forward without him. When you are 21 and you receive the request of a big team that is playing in European competition, I can understand.

Those are hardly the words of a manager confident of keeping the lad in the club. I suggested earlier that Caicedo was being a bit mercenary. It’s worth considering his situation, not as a justification of our pursuit of him but as a understanding of his concerns. He’s the youngest of ten children from an impoverished family in Ecuador. While his weekly salary of £25k or so is probably more than most families see in a year, he has to be seeing just how much more he can do for his family on a larger weekly wage. Again, I’m not suggesting that we’re acting as some kind of noble benefactor interested only in the wellbeing of the Caicedo clan; I’m only suggesting that those who might criticise the lad should keep in mind what’s on his.

Back to Brighton’s state of affairs, De Zerbi added a few nuggets that offer us more reasons to hope:

I think we need some players in some positions. I have spoken a lot with [chairman] Tony Bloom and he knows my position. We have a good team but we can improve from the transfer window. We lost Leandro Trossard, and if we lose also Caicedo it can be a problem for us if we want to fight for a European league or the maximum position on the table. If you want to stay like this, we can stay but I don’t like that [approach].

This again sounds like a man who sees the writing on the wall regarding Caicedo’s future, and it gives some substance to Caicedo’s admittedly tone-deaf declaration that he’d be “proud to be able to bring in a record transfer fee for Brighton”. There’s a bit of hubris there, but there’s also some practicality as well. If De Zerbi wants new players, a £75 fee (plus add-ons) would go an awful long way—but time is running short. 

The question then becomes, who will blink first?