It seems months and months ago now, but Arsenal were quite close to signing Arthur Melo at one point during the January transfer window.
Arsenal technical director Edu struck a £33 million deal for the Brazil midfielder to join from Juventus.
However, The Athletic reported this week that higher-ups at the Gunners ruled against Edu and now a deal isn’t happening.
Considering that the Emirates Stadium outfit have been chasing Arthur for four weeks – and possibly longer – this was a hammer blow.
There was some hope on Friday when Calciomercato claimed that the Juventus man is still keen to join the North Londoners – and now there’s even more hope.
Manchester United were rumoured to be getting involved and given it’s, well, Manchester United, a massive club, they represented a genuine threat to Arsenal’s chances of getting their man.
However, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has some good news for Gooners on this front, tweeting out that Arthur – who cost the Serie A outfit £66 million in 2020 – is in fact not a target for the Old Trafford club.
Transfer boost?
Absolutely.
The Red Devils are certainly a bigger club than Arsenal and probably have a slightly better chance of reaching the Champions League group stages next season, with MIkel Arteta’s outfit badly struggling right now.
But if United aren’t in the equation, that’s one less team Edu and Arteta have to worry about.
And considering there aren’t a great deal of clubs seemingly interested in Arthur, Arsenal could potentially still get him before Monday’s deadline.
Nothing is simple when it comes to the Gunners, with even simplistic things rarely being straightforward, but if the people who ruled against the Brazilian transfer guru have a change of heart, there’s still time to salvage this.
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