Liverpool loanee Arthur Melo on Arsenal and Mikel Arteta’s transfer radar
The Reds’ deadline day signing Arthur Melo, who joined Liverpool on loan from Juventus is yet to start a game for the club. Moreover, in over four months at the club, the player has only one appearance for the first team in a 4-1 loss to Napoli on the Reds’ opening Champions League matchday and that too only for 13 minutes.
A training injury has kept him out of action since the beginning of October before which he was at least making the bench. However, as confirmed by the Daily Mail not very long ago, Melo could return to action ahead of schedule and could help the Reds in their pursuit of a top-four spot in the league.
It is extremely unfortunate that the player is not able to contribute to the team, as in the initial few weeks after his loan deal, the backroom staff at the Reds stood mighty pleased with his training ethic and even they hoped that the 29-year-old Brazilian could contribute to Liverpool.
Following an irregular start to the season wherein he saw himself left out of pre-season training by Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri, Arthur obviously had it tough to start from the get-go and hence, had to put in the extra effort to make a case for himself to start games at Merseyside.
Arthur headed to London?
Even though there is no guarantee that he would stay at Liverpool beyond his loan contract, his Premier League career could continue for long as news emerges from football.london that Arsenal are eyeing Arthur as a transfer target.
The publication reports that in case the Gunners’ pursuit of Youri Tielemans, who coincidentally also finds himself on Liverpool’s transfer radar, fails to go through, they could well and truly be in the mix to get the Juventus man on their roster.
This could be something the Reds could make note of as well. Given the Gunners could possibly be looking beyond Tielemans at the moment, the Reds could do a silent deal for him, as they did for Gakpo. The Leicester man is on contract at the Foxes until the summer of 2023 (Transfermarkt).
However, Arthur’s deal is not done yet, and the Brazilian could possibly be back in action for the Reds in less than a month’s time. Given his level of technicality, he could well and truly be a useful asset for the Reds.
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- Liverpool gaffer Jurgen Klopp says Cody Gakpo’s arrival will not impact Roberto Firmino’s contract situation
We have the option of triggering the buyout clause in his loan deal for a fee of £32m but that would totally depend on how well he does for the Reds in the rest of the season. Even back when Arthur joined, the primary need for Liverpool was a midfielder and nothing much has changed in that front.
