Arthur Melo won’t leave Liverpool in the January window says his agent but blamed the star’s “pig-headedness” for the failed move.
Arthur joined Liverpool late in the summer transfer window on a loan deal from Juventus for €4.5m (£3.9m) with an option to buy of €37.5m (£32m).
The move hasn’t worked out for either club or player with the 26-year-old playing just 13 minutes of football in one substitute appearance back in September in the Reds’ 4-1 Champions League loss to Napoli.
After being on the bench for the first two Premier League games of his spell, he’s since been out injured following surgery and failed to make a league appearance.
This inevitably led to the belief that the failed deal would be cut short but Arthur’s agent Federico Pastorello told Tuttomercatoweb (quotes relayed by Football Italia) he won’t be returning to Turin, or at least whilst Max Allegri remains in charge.
“It started in August from his pig-headedness to seek something else,”
“Liverpool had already sent signals they appreciated Arthur Melo, but didn’t have the space in the squad. We therefore monitored injury updates and at the same time maintained an open channel with the Liverpool directors.
“We were a bit lucky due to the bad luck of others, because Liverpool had several injuries and while we were negotiating”
“He will 100 per cent remain at Liverpool in January.”
“As for what happens when this season ends, we’ll see. There isn’t a proper option to buy for Liverpool, but obviously if Allegri remains at Juventus then we’ll have to find a different solution.
TIF Thoughts on Pastorello’s comments…
It seems strange comments to make as Pastorello blames Arthur’s “pig-headedness” to join the Reds but also says an obvious rift between Allegri and the player or his representatives led to him not wanting to remain at Juventus.
The move originally made sense on paper with Liverpool’s midfield woes needing addressing and the Brazilian’s experience from Juventus and Barcelona along with his 22 Brazil caps seemed a good deal, considering the freedom around the move with no obligation to buy should it not go successfully.
Jurgen Klopp will be thankful that the deal only included an option and not an obligation with the midfielder seemingly having no future at Anfield beyond this season despite his injury issues, Arthur looks like he will be returning to Juventus at the end of the season but his career beyond will be completely up in the air, especially if Allegri remains in charge.