Arsenal set to bid for Arthur Melo - why he could join this summer
Carlo Garganese
- 20 Jul 2022 17:38 BST
- 4 min read
Arthur Melo is back on the menu at Arsenal, according to a number of reports in the Italian media in recent days.
SportItalia journalist Rudy Galletti reported on Wednesday that Arsenal are set to make a bid for Arthur.
🚨🔥 #Arsenal are set to make an official bid to #Juventus for #Arthur. 💰
📌 Despite the interest for #Tielemans, #AFC could try to sign the 🇧🇷 midfielder, who is out of the ⚪⚫ plans. 🐓⚽#Transfers #Calciomercato pic.twitter.com/NYoECLXGcZ— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) July 20, 2022
TuttomercatoWeb also claims that Arsenal have reopened talks with Juventus over the 25-year-old midfielder.
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The Gunners were in negotiations to sign the Brazilian in January from Juventus, but the two clubs could not come to an agreement over the terms of the deal.
Arthur thus stayed at Juventus for the rest of the season, but there are a number of reasons why this deal could still happen this summer.
First of all, from Juve’s point of view, the player is up for sale and has been transfer listed. He is not expected to travel to the United States with the rest of the Juventus squad for their pre-season tour.
Coach Max Allegri plays a type of football that simply isn’t compatible with Arthur. Allegri prefers his central midfielders to be physical, pragmatic and defensively sound, whereas Arthur’s strengths lay in his short-passing game and breaking the press by taking risks in his own third.
Secondly, Arthur himself has instructed his agent Federico Pastorello to find him a new club. Pastorello failed to do this in January and knows he cannot do so again if he is to continue working with the Brazilian.
Arsenal are once again interested in signing Arthur Melo. At the moment, the Brazilian only wants to listen to offers from Barcelona or Arsenal.
— @giaco_iaco pic.twitter.com/xTQ9rHqgl0— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) July 17, 2022
Arthur wishes to find a club that plays modern, passing football and considers Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to suit his style of play.
That brings us on nicely to the third reason why a transfer could happen. Arsenal may have spent almost €100 million this summer on Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner – and they may be in advanced negotiations for Oleksandr Zinchenko – but they are still in the market for another deeper, controlling central midfielder.
Arthur is one of the options who can fill the void, along with the likes of Ruben Neves and Youri Tielemans.
Arteta and Edu are known to be fans of the player, but the big question will be can Arsenal and Juventus come to an agreement on a price that suits both of them.
Juventus prefer to sell the player outright or loan him with an obligation to buy. The reason for this is because his contract expires in 2025 and his amortised cost (spreading out his transfer fee over the length of his contract) is still very high having arrived from Barcelona for €72 million just two years ago.
That means the Bianconeri need to recoup €43.2m this summer if they sell in order to avoid making a capital loss on the player.
Juventus may have to end up accepting a loss on the player given the lack of interest elsewhere, but the chances of a move to Arsenal should not be dismissed.
