Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi could not guarantee Moises Caicedo would remain at the club beyond the end of the season.
The Ecuador international was the subject of offers from both Arsenal and Chelsea during the January transfer window, with the south coast standing firm in their valuation of well over £70m.
Caicedo had publicly asked to be allowed to leave the Amex Stadium for a “magnificent opportunity” elsewhere.
Arsenal, instead, moved to sign Jorginho from Chelsea before the Blues broke a British transfer record to bring Enzo Fernandez to the Premier League for £106m.
Brighton are notorious when it comes to extracting maximum value from their players, selling Ben White to the Gunners for £50m as well as Marc Cucurella to Chelsea for over £60m.
While De Zerbi was happy to welcome the 21-year-old back into the first-team fold, the Italian admitted Caicedo’s long-term future remains unclear.
"I don’t know," replied the Italian boss when asked if Caicedo will depart Sussex before next season.
"I want to be responsible about him because I believe in Moises. I don’t know the situation in the future but he’s a good guy and I want to defend him now.
"In other times I spoke a different way for the other players but for Moises it’s different.
"We need the performance of Moises and he’s a fantastic guy and so I don’t want to hear criticism or anything more."
