Liverpool’s new signing Arthur Melo will be hoping to prove Luis Suarez wrong, after the Uruguayan took a dim view of his time at Barcelona.
Arthur, who is a defensive midfielder by trade, has been in and out of the Juventus team since joining in the summer of 2020, making 31 appearances last season of which 16 were starts. He has yet to feature this season and didn’t take part in the Italian team’s pre-season tour.
The Brazilian had previously spent two years at Barcelona, where he also failed to nail down a place in the Catalan side’s starting line-up. The midfielder also featured as a late substitute in the famous 4-0 Champions League semi-final second leg defeat at Liverpool in May 2019.
Before Arthur made his big-money move to Juve, Luis Suarez, who remains Spain’s only player to have won the Ballon d’Or, doing so back in 1960, claimed that he did ‘nothing’ at the Nou Camp and was happy to see him leave in a stinging attack.
“This boy, Arthur, has done nothing so far,” he told Cadena SER Catalunya – via Spanish publication Marca – back in May 2020.
“Do you think that what Arthur has done so far could not have been done by [Carles] Alena? When they talk about Arthur in Italy, it seems like they’re selling Pele.
It seems they haven’t watched the games. I apologise to the boy, but he hasn’t done great things to say: ‘What a player we’ve brought from Brazil’.”
Arthur Melo’s first words as a Liverpool player as transfer deadline day talks explained
Arthur Melo says Liverpool’s stature in world football made their move an easy one to accept as he joined on a season-long loan from Juventus.
The Brazil midfielder completed the formalities of his medical at the AXA Centre in Kirkby after flying into the region from Turin on Thursday and he becomes the fourth signing of the summer after Darwin Nunez, Calvin Ramsay and Fabio Carvalho.
Arthur’s arrival eases the pressure on an injury-hit midfield department as Jurgen Klopp takes his side to Everton on Saturday without captain Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita, while Curtis Jones is yet to play this season after only returning to training this week following a calf issue.
Juventus have claimed Liverpool have an option to make it permanent next year for a fee of £32m with the Italians also suggesting the Reds have paid around £3.5m for the loan.
Arthur talked up the history of his new club telling Liverpoolfc.com: “I’m really, really happy to be here wearing this great shirt with this famous badge that represents so much in world football, it’s a dream.
“We talked a lot, and our ideas and visions were a good fit so I’m sure it was the right choice. I’m really happy and highly motivated to continue living my dream on the pitch and giving my all in a Liverpool shirt.
“Liverpool have a wonderful history in football. I’ve played against Liverpool, I know what it feels like to be in the stadium with the fans behind them.
