The Ecuadorian midfielder made a surprise public transfer request after the Premier League leaders had a £60million bid rejected by Brighton, having knocked back a £55m offer from Chelsea earlier in the window.
Speaking after his side’s 2-1 FA Cup win over Liverpool – which Caicedo sat out – De Zerbi suggested he was ready to use the player’s sale to improve his squad in the final days of the January window.
“Caicedo is a very, very good guy,” he told reporters.
“I can understand because when you are 21 and you have a request from a big team, they are playing in Europe.
“I would like him to finish the season with us. But we are ready to go forward without him – I think we need some players in some positions.
“I spoke a lot with [Brighton chairman] Tony [Bloom], he knows very well my opinion. We are a good team but we can improve from the transfer window.
“We lost [Leandro] Trossard and if we also lose Caicedo, it can be a problem for us if we want to fight for Europe.”
Caicedo has been told not to turn up for Brighton training after making a social media plea to be sold to Arsenal, which De Zerbi feels was the work of others around the youngster.
He added: “I was surprised, but I can understand where the mistake started.
“I don’t know if you understand but Moises is a good guy. I think [he is being influenced by others].”
