Arsenal technical director Edu finally agreed a move to sign Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo – only to have others at the club refuse to strike a deal.
That’s according to The Athletic, who claim that Arthur now looks unlikely to sign for Arsenal before Monday’s transfer deadline.
Arthur has been Arsenal’s top target in terms of adding a new midfielder, with Edu desperate to add his compatriot.
It’s stated that Edu had finally reached an agreement on a deal with Juventus sporting director Federico Cherubini.
The deal would have seen Arthur head to Arsenal on loan for 18 months with an option to buy at around €40million (£33.5million).
However, when Edu presented that to the rest of the Arsenal hierarchy, they weren’t so keen and appear to have vetoed the deal.
This will be a huge disappointment for Arthur, who has wanted to join Arsenal for a couple of weeks according to the Daily Mail.
Having started just four league games under Massimiliano Allegri this season, Arthur was seemingly ready for a much bigger role at Arsenal.
Add in that permanent option and Arthur was probably excited to go and make an impact where he may be loved.
Sadly for him, it now looks like the deal won’t be happening, and Edu will surely be frustrated at spending weeks on this deal only for others around him to say no.
So where do Arsenal go from here?
Thomas Partey is at least back from the Africa Cup of Nations, but Arsenal still don’t really have a deep-lying playmaker like Arthur.
Granit Xhaka, Albert Sambi Lokonga and – eventually – Mohamed Elneny will be options in the engine room until the summer.
That doesn’t help Arsenal’s case for the top four though, and Edu will surely keep close tabs on Arthur’s situation ahead of potentially rekindling a move this summer.
Other targets could appear in the coming days, but Arsenal are leaving it very, very late.
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