Arsenal had Arthur Melo on their January window shopping list and was strongly linked with Melo but an agreement with Juventus couldn’t be reached. An 18-month loan with an option to buy for around €40 million (£34m) didn’t seem like the right deal for the Gunners despite needing an experience reinforcement in the midfield – as AFCON’s involvement at the turn of the year saw Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny leave Mikel Arteta with no experience midfielder except for Granit Xhaka and an inexperienced Sambi Lokonga for over a month.
Arthur Melo hasn’t enjoyed a consistent run of games since joining the Turin in a laughable swap deal with Barcelona, which saw Pjanic going the other way. Under Andrea Pirlo, Rodrigo Bentancur was more frequent in the starting lineup as his the manager’s choice to play as the regista. His time with the Old Lady couldn’t have gone worse for the Brazilian but his nightmare was not limited to his lack of game time only, but also the role that he is slotted in.
Massimiliano Allegri handed the Brazilian a run in the starting lineup but Manuel Locatelli operated admirably in the regista role. Arthur once again suffered from Locatelli’s form. The midfielder’s weakness in defensive transition and small physical frame meant Allegri couldn’t rely on the Brazilian at the base of the midfield.
He’s unarguably a technically apt footballer capable of moving past the opponents through clever body feints and touches, but he hasn’t yet filled the manager with so much faith to be consistently considered to be the team’s midfield anchor or dictator.
Arthur’s agent, Federico Pastorello revealed that the 25-year-old Brazilian midfielder still wants to leave Juventus this summer despite failing to secure a move in January.
‘In January he was close to leaving and joining Arsenal,’ Pastorello told La Repubblica. ‘He is too important a player to be marginalized, he must also think about his situation with the national team.
‘He was signed to play a different style of football, with Maurizio Sarri he would have played Jorginho, Allegri likes him but instead, he wants to play with two more physical midfielders.
‘It’s a tactical question, and I don’t make the technical choices. But it’s not in anyone’s interest to continue in this situation.’
Arsenal’s lack of depth and midfield signing in January has affected the team’s performances after Partey’s injury against Crystal Palace in March. The Ghanian captain has now missed seven games since then, with relatively no chance of recovering on time to play the last two games of the season.
Arsenal is going to add more depth to the squad this summer but will Arthur’s availability this summer be the club’s final chance to lure him to the Emirate?
