Exclusive: Arsenal really wanted to sign Premier League star to partner Declan Rice, says expert
Arsenal won’t necessarily view Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo as a bullet dodged, despite him making a slow start to life at Stamford Bridge in comparison to how Declan Rice has got off to a flyer in his first season at the Emirates Stadium. According to Charles Watts as he spoke exclusively to CaughtOffside for his […]
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Arsenal won’t necessarily view Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo as a bullet dodged, despite him making a slow start to life at Stamford Bridge in comparison to how Declan Rice has got off to a flyer in his first season at the Emirates Stadium.
According to Charles Watts as he spoke exclusively to CaughtOffside for his Daily Briefing column, Arsenal really wanted Caicedo, and were keen to sign the Ecuador international as well as Rice in what could have been a dream midfield partnership.
Watts is also sure that Caicedo would have performed very differently at Arsenal if he’d moved there instead of to Chelsea, where current Gunners star Kai Havertz also struggled before moving across London last summer.
Caicedo has also shown some signs of improvement recently, so it could be that the Blues will see the very best of him soon, as he showed immense potential during his time at former club Brighton.
Arsenal will no doubt be delighted they ended up with Rice, but it could still be that they’ll wonder what could have been if they’d signed both players.
Caicedo transfer failure not a bullet dodged for Arsenal
“Caicedo was a player they really wanted and were willing to pay big money for. But they weren’t going to pay what Brighton were asking for so they walked away after seeing multiple bids rejected in January, 2023,” Watts said.
“Obviously they then went and signed Declan Rice the following summer, but as far as I’m aware they still would have gone for the West Ham captain even if they had managed to get Caicedo in the summer. The plan was always to try and get both of them, not one.
“Caicedo hasn’t exactly been a massive success at Chelsea, although he has started to put in stronger performances as the season has gone on. He’s clearly an excellent player and I do think we would have seen him hit top form far sooner had he moved to Arsenal rather than Chelsea.
“It’s just an easier environment for a player to settle at the moment and Arteta has shown how can quickly improve players. Look at Kai Havertz for example.
“Chelsea’s issues are much publicised and it’s tough for any player to walk into that club right now and show their best form straight away, Cole Palmer aside perhaps. So I don’t really look at Caicedo and view it as a bullet dodged.
“To be honest it’s the same with Mudryk. I just can’t shake the feeling that both players would have performed very differently had they walked into the Arsenal changing room rather than the Chelsea one.”
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