Liverpoolcoach Jurgen Kloppacknowledged the necessity to add a central midfielder before the transfer window closed, but he said his team would only make a move if the perfect player became available. Moreover, the hamstring injury sustained by Jordan Henderson against Newcastle just a day before Deadline Day increased the sense of urgency.
After being substituted off in the second half at Anfield, Henderson joined the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the injured list. However, Liverpool moved swiftly, announcing the loan acquisition of Arthur Melo from Juventus barely 24 hours later.
So far, the 26-year-old has only appeared in one game for the Reds,a 13-minute cameo in the4-1UEFA Champions League loss to Napoli. His parent club Juventus hadn’t used the Brazilian in a game since May, so it’s understandable that the German boss hasn’t hurried to throwhim into the fire despite a slew of midfield problems.
Why Arthur could leave Liverpool as early as January
Now, it appears as though Liverpool brought in Arthur as a stopgap measure until the summer when they want to get a permanent replacement. The midfielder could now return to Juventus, as Liverpool arecontemplating cutting his loan short in January,after failing to satisfy Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff.
The cost for the loan was €4.5 million, with a buyout option of €37.5 million included in the transaction. Italian publicationTMW, however, are now stating that the Liverpool coaches are disappointed with the 26-year-old, who was reportedly not at the level anticipated.
If the loan is canceled, the Brazilian’s future is unclear since the Bianconeri’s bossMassimiliano Allegri allegedly has no interest in re-incorporating the midfielderinto his Juventus team. Although Arthur was recruited by Barcelona in July 2018, he is yet to reach his full potential.
It seemed like he was headed for great success in Catalonia, but sadly, that prospect was never fully realized. During his first season with the team, he never had a streak of more than three consecutive starts. As his second year came to a close, he found himself more unpopular.
There was a change of scenery with his transfer that summer when he went to Juventus, and in exchange, Miralem Pjanic moved to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2020.On the other hand, it is fair to conclude that neither the La Liga nor the Serie A club received what they were hoping for.
