Brighton stave off late Newcastle bid for wonderkid Moises Caicedo after Manchester United walk away from deal

Brighton and Hove Albion are confident they have beaten Newcastle United to the signing of former Manchester United target Moises Caicedo.

The Independiente del Valle midfielder is one of the biggest talents to emerge from South America in recent years and is already starring for the Ecuador national side.

The 19-year-old was linked with a move to the Red Devils upon the opening of the January transfer window, with experts likening Caicedo to Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante.

However, talkSPORT understands United have distanced themselves from a deal and now Brighton are frontrunners to sign the prodigal teenager.

The Seagulls have agreed a fee with Independiente, while Newcastle were unsuccessful in their late bid to hijack the move.

According to the Manchester Evening News, representatives from Old Trafford walked away from the deal after it became ‘too messy’.

In fact, one source went on to describe the negotiations with intermediaries and third parties as a ‘clusterf***’.

Brighton are in a somewhat precarious position in the Premier League and sit just three points above the relegation zone, although Fulham have two games in hand on them.

Graham Potter’s side were taken to penalties in their FA Cup third round tie against Newport and now face a daunting trip to Manchester City on Wednesday.