Kris Boyd says Brighton ‘couldn’t wait’ to get Yves Bissouma ‘out of the door’ when selling him to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, but they made sure to stop Moises Caicedo’s sale to Arsenal during the January transfer window.
It was one of the talking points of the recently-concluded winter transfer window, with Caicedo pleading to leave the Seagulls amid Arsenal interest, and the hard-hitting midfielder staying put.
Back in the summer, with less than 12 months left on his contract, Bissouma was sold to Spurs for £25 million (Sky Sports), with Caicedo then replacing the Mali star in the middle of the park.
It has been a struggle during the early stages of Bissouma’s reign in north London because he is yet to establish himself in Antonio Conte’s highly-demanding XI.
Perhaps it’s a warning to Caicedo that he shouldn’t have rushed things, but at the end of the day, when the Premier League leaders come knocking, then it’s pretty hard to turn down.
Nonetheless, following Caicedo’s failed transfer to the Emirates, Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi left him out of the XI that beat Bournemouth on Saturday, which according to former Scotland International Boyd was the right call, as he told Sky Sports News (04/02/23 at 2:15 pm).
“No, (not surprised Caicedo didn’t start against Bournemouth),” said Boyd. “He obviously hasn’t been in training for a few days. His head was turned a little bit. Your head can be all over the place. You’re not focused on games.
“Sometimes, with the way Caicedo plays. He’s not one for shutting a challenge as well. Sometimes, if you’re not mentally there, then you can miss-time tackles. I can understand why he was left out. Brighton are in a good place at this time.
“You have to look at Brighton, their recruitment and how they have handled this one. When you go back to the summer with Bissouma, they couldn’t wait to get him out of the door. It’s totally different from this one. They know, come the summer, that he probably will move on. It will be done correctly.”
CAICEDO AND BISSOUMA
Brighton just keep churning out these players, left, right and centre, regardless of who leaves.
Ben White left a number of seasons ago for Arsenal, yet it hasn’t had an effect on their defence. Marc Cucurella was their Player of the Season during the 2021/22 campaign, yet fast forward to the present and Pervis Estupinan is cooking on that left flank.
Bissouma left last summer and Caicedo might just follow suit in the summer, either way, the Seagulls will still be punching above their weight, which is a credit to how they are set up, from top to bottom.
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