Arsenal hoped to sign both Moises Caicedo in January and Declan Rice in the summer, not one or the other, according to a report.

The Telegraph report that when Arsenal made their £70m move for Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo in the January transfer window, it wasn’t their intention to stop there.

The Gunners were reportedly hoping to sign Caicedo in January and Declan Rice in the summer, not just one of the two.

This is certainly interesting news ahead of the summer window, with Arsenal still linked to both players, but suggestions that they may only be looking to sign one or the other.

Perhaps the situation has changed. Arsenal signed Jorginho in the January window, and the need to add another attacking midfielder has started to look a little more pressing.

Mikel Arteta’s transfer team are reportedly interested in Mason Mount of Chelsea or Mohammed Kudus of Ajax, and it’s possible the club now view making that signing along with one of Caicedo and Rice as a better option than signing both.

On the other hand, perhaps the club are trying to mask their true intentions in the market, and they could go back for both of their January targets.

There’s no doubt that either Rice or Caicedo would add something to the Arsenal squad, particularly when it comes to their physical attributes.

Even some of Arsenal’s more defensive midfielders can often find themselves too easily bypassed, whether due to a lack of physicality in their game or simply a lack of support.

Addressing that issue would hopefully avoid some of the counter-attacking situations like those we’ve seen in many of Arsenal’s recent games, and could be the difference between a title challenger and a title winner.