Arsenal have been chasing the signing of Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo – but it looks like Massimiliano Allegri wants to keep him after all.
You could hardly blame Arsenal for trying their luck with a move for Arthur this month.
The Brazilian midfielder has barely featured for Juve this season. With just four league starts and another four substitute appearances, Arthur can’t be happy with his playing time.
Signed for £66million in 2020, Arthur hasn’t lived up to that billing but also hasn’t been given the star role you would expect at that price.
Edu knows a thing or two about Brazilian players, so Arsenal have been chasing a deal for Arthur this month.
The Daily Mail report that Arthur wants to sign for Arsenal after they made a move to take him on loan for the rest of the season.
Arthur’s agent Federico Pastorello even visited Arsenal’s Landon Colney training ground a matter of days ago in the hope of thrashing out a move during talks with Edu.
Arthur has been waiting for Juve boss Allegri to sanction the deal – but that doesn’t look like happening now.
Tuttomercatoweb reported last week that Allegri was promising Arthur that he would play a big role in the coming months.
Now, Allegri has indicated that Juventus have no plans to change ‘anything’ with their first team between now and the end of the transfer window.
Allegri added that Arthur’s status as a Brazilian international underlines his quality, branding him an ‘important player’.
Arsenal may now need to pivot away from Arthur, as it’s starting to look like Juventus won’t accept a loan deal on Allegri’s orders.
Thomas Partey’s early return from the Africa Cup of Nations is a boost to Arsenal’s midfield options, but they still need another – and if it isn’t going to be Arthur, it needs to be somebody else.
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