Liverpool gaffer Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign Chelsea loanee Denis Zakaria over Arthur Melo
According to Calciomercato (h/t The Express), Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp tried to sign Juventus’ Denis Zakaria before the Swiss secured a loan move to Chelsea.
The 25-year-old was on the Reds’ radar before Liverpool finally signed Arthur Melo on loan from the same club. Liverpool apparently held talks with La Vecchia Signora for Zakaria, but things ‘did not go well’ and an agreement could not be reached. Eventually, the former Borussia Monchengladbach man joined the Blues on deadline day.
But on the brighter side, we managed to get our hands on another one of their players, albeit on a temporary basis. The technicality of Arthur is something which will bring a creative spark to Liverpool’s midfield, which was missing with Thiago Alcantara sitting out.
Juventus pair temporarily moves to the Premier League
Zakaria and Arthur are two different kinds of players. The Brazilian plays a more advanced role to create chances whereas the former is more of a deep-lying playmaker. Liverpool arguably could have done with cover in both positions. Nevertheless, the deal for Arthur was top-notch, given there is no long-term commitment.
With the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita out injured, it was certain that Liverpool would make a move for a midfielder. The skipper suffered an injury in the game against Newcastle United, with merely 24 to go for the transfer deadline. Hence, Liverpool had to move quickly to reach an agreement.
In 63 appearances across all competitions for Juventus, Melo has one goal and one assist. But his game is far beyond that. He finds open spaces for wingers to run into and is a technician on the ball. Much like Thiago Alcantara.
Zakaria though has not played a lot for the Italian outfit and he has a goal and assist from 15 appearances. How he fares in England remains to be seen. Liverpool paid £3.8m as a loan fee for Arthur and the contract also includes a buy clause of £32.3m.
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Arthur is in contention to start the UCL game against Napoli after he was part of the matchday squad against Everton on Saturday afternoon.
