Liverpool should have signed £26m star instead of his former team-mate

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If there’s something Tim Vickery doesn’t know about South American football, then it probably isn’t worth knowing. So there were better more qualified than him to pass judgement on the deal that saw Liverpool bring Arthur Melo to the Premier League on loan from Juventus during deadline day. 

“Surprised and intrigued,” a puzzled Vickery told Sky Sports. “When Liverpool are at their best, they’re so vertical. So relentlessly vertical. Arthur is much more of a possession-based midfielder.  

“You certainly see him more as a Pep Guardiola-type midfielder than a Jurgen Klopp-type midfielder.”

Vickery has a point. Once compared to Xavi by former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi, the Juventus loanee is certainly more ‘tika taka’ than ‘gegenpressing’.  

And while Thiago Alcantara and Harvey Elliot are living, playmaking proof that you don’t need to be a 6ft-something monster with the engine of a jet plane to thrive under Klopp, concerns over Arthur’s lack of physical power and his preference for safe, somewhat conservative distribution are not exactly unfounded.

Under Guardiola at Manchester City, Arthur would be a square peg in a square hole; a tailor-made addition to a patient, possession-based side. At Liverpool, well, it’s certainly less obvious where he fits in. This is not to say he cannot adapt to life at Liverpool, of course; giving Klopp some much-needed guile to offset the grit of James Milner, Jordan Henderson and co. 

But it’s difficult to shake the feeling that another midfielder who left Juventus for the Premier League on deadline day – Chelsea’s Denis Zakaria – would have been a more obvious solution to Klopp’s midfield problems.  

Did Liverpool sign the wrong Juventus midfielder in Arthur Melo?

“Physically, he was an absolute machine even then,” recalls Adam Owen, who coached Zakaria at Servette in his native Switzerland. “He can drive with the ball, he’s decent in defence, solid. He probably reminds you of Patrick Vieira.” 

If there is one player Liverpool needed, perhaps more than any other, it’s arguably a dynamic, box-to-box midfielder capable of turning defence into attack. Someone young and fit enough to provide an injection of energy and industry in the centre of the park. Something Liverpool were badly missing as they were outran and out-fought by the likes of Fulham, Napoli and Manchester United. Even when Arthur is match fit, asking him to provide the energy and physicality Liverpool are currently missing feels like asking Mike Myers to play James Bond. Arthur has his talents. Just not necessarily the talents Liverpool need.

“I think (Zakaria’s) game is definitely suited to the Premier League,” said former Anfield favourite Dietmar Hamann in 2021. “I think he could be a player for Liverpool. He has a great engine and he could play a more defensive role if Fabinho was missing.” 

Zakaria, when discussing the £26 million option-to-buy deal that took him to Chelsea, indicated that Liverpool might have expressed an interest before he ended up in West London. 

“I heard (about Liverpool’s interest) from my agent,” Zakaria says. “But, in the end, it was Chelsea.” 

Of course, Arthur could still prove us all wrong and rediscover the form that made him a fixture for Brazil and Barca. But, until that day, the jury will remain out.