Arthur Melo won’t start for Liverpool tonight with Jurgen Klopp hinting that it’s just too soon for the new signing to play against Napoli.
The Reds don’t usually love to do business on deadline day, but they were forced into a very late move.
Jordan Henderson picked up an injury against Newcastle United last Wednesday and with a host of other midfielders injured too, Liverpool had to act.
Liverpool pounced to sign Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus, taking him for the season with an option to buy next summer.
Arthur was only on the bench against Everton and some have been wondering whether a start could come against Napoli tonight.
Arthur Melo won’t start for Liverpool tonight
Liverpool head to Naples to kickstart their Champions League group stage campaign tonight.
Jurgen Klopp will be seeking a win, especially having lost on the last two trips to face Napoli.
Klopp isn’t blessed with midfield options though given that Fabio Carvalho has now become the latest injury concern in the engine room.
That means some think Arthur should start tonight, especially as it’s against an Italian team and Arthur will be familiar with some of the Napoli squad.
It’s a big ask though; even though Arthur would find somewhat familiar settings in Italy, he is desperately lacking in playing time.
Arthur was excluded from the Juventus pre-season tour to the United States and wasn’t a part of Massimiliano Allegri’s squad for the opening of the season.
That means Arthur is in desperate need of match sharpness and may not be ready to start tonight.
That’s the view of Jurgen Klopp anyway, who told Liverpool’s official website that he thinks Arthur is not ready to play a full game.
Klopp noted that Arthur needs proper training and less than a week of that at Liverpool isn’t enough to suddenly catapult him into the starting lineup.
Klopp added that Arthur is ‘giving his absolute all’ in training but, unless he is bluffing, don’t expect to see Arthur starting tonight.
“Arthur needs now just football – and training, especially, that’s how it is. He wasn’t in team training for a while at Juve, so he needs proper team training – and that’s what we are doing with him. Can he play minutes? Yes. Should he play a full game? No, because he needs to get used to the intensity in each competition,” said Klopp.
“It’s not like in the Champions League you have to work less than in the Premier League. Not at all, especially not here. He is doing well, he is really giving his absolute all in training, we have to be careful with him as well and then we will see whether we can use him,” he added.
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