Midfielder target supposedly ‘wants a longer-term deal’ to join Arsenal

Dean Jones has claimed that Arsenal’s deal to sign Arthur Melo from Juventus has hit a snag because he has no interest in being a short-term fix.

The Gunners have been linked with a six-month loan deal for the Brazilian, who has found first-team minutes hard to come-by under Max Allegri this term.

Part of that can be explained by the players injury during the summer, but even since making his return to action, has still found himself rotated in and out of the line-up.

Arthur is supposedly willing to move to north London, with Arsenal believed to have made an attempt to sign him this month, but the issue now appears to be the length of his stay.

“The player needs convincing that this is the right move for him. What I’m told from a contact in Italy is that he can imagine himself becoming a part of this Arsenal project, but not for four or five months,” Jones said on The Done Deal Show.

“For a player like him to make that switch from Serie A to the Premier League and settle into the side and the style of football and become a part of the team, without knowing whether or not he’s going to be staying, that’s not really what he’s looking for and from what I’m told, he wants a longer-term deal.”

With the World Cup coming up in December, it makes sense that he would only be interested in a move that would help him settle and play football in the run-up to that competition, and if he really is sold on the project at Arsenal, it would also make sense that he would like a longer term to prove himself to the cause.

I can’t say I’m convinced that Arthur is the right man to improve our squad, but time is running out with the need to add both a midfielder and an attacker, and he could well prove to be a huge signing.

Patrick

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