Arsenal have been strongly linked with a deal to sign Arthur Melo from Juventus this month, either on loan or a more permanent deal, but he now appears to have picked up an injury of sorts.
The midfielder was named in the starting line-up for the Old Lady this evening as they took on Udinese in Serie A, but he began to struggle with an unknown injury after the initial 30 minutes, and while he completed the half, he was replaced by Manuel Locatelli during the break as seen live on BT Sport.
His appearance in the tie may well have downplayed our chances of landing his signature regardless, with clubs tending to opt against playing stars who are close to leaving for various reasons, with the possibility of injury high on that list of reasons for not risking players close to an exit.
We will now await news on his potential injury, although it wouldn’t surprise me if we were now looking at alternative options with the player seemingly being given a chance to impress, with Arthur playing a part in the build-up to Paulo Dybala’s initial goal.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t even want Arthur to join Arsenal. I’m not convinced he has ever showed a level of consistency that is worthy of the price-tag he has is talked of, nor do I believe he is a scratch on either Granit Xhaka or Thomas Partey.
If we are bringing in a senior option in midfield, he needs to give us something different and be of the right level, and I just don’t see that from the Brazilian.
Patrick