Serie A expert and journalist Mina Rzouki has claimed on Sky Sports that Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo really wants to join Arsenal this month.
The Gunners have been looking for a new midfielder since the window opened 25 days ago. Mikel Arteta is desperate for a new addition in the middle of the park and rumours have led us to believe that Arthur is the likeliest option.
Edu has been locked in negotiations with Juventus to sort out a deal for the midfielder. Arthur, signed by Juve for £66 million, has even begun house-searching in London ahead of a possible move, but Rzouki believes that there’s a chance that the transfer may still collapse.
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Arthur Melo really wants to join Arsenal but Juve may not let him
The journalist said: “It’s interesting that Vlahovic didn’t want to move to Arsenal, but Arthur really wants to go. It’s very bizarre that Arthur is going up the pecking order for Max Allegri at the moment. He’s playing a lot more recently.
“He wants to move because I think he’d be more of a guaranteed starter than he is right now at Juve, where they seem to only ever play him for 45 minutes. He’s already been looking for houses in London but Juve don’t want a six-month loan, they want a year-and-a-half with an obligation to buy.
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“So they want to definitively know and arrange his future from now, they don’t want to be left in the dark and lose him for six months.
“Secondly, the transfer market is closing soon, they need a replacement and are they going to find one for Arthur in time? Probably not, so it looks like he might stay despite the fact he wishes to go.”
The Insider’s View:
We all knew that January is a complicated window but none of us really expected it to be this difficult.
Our search for a striker was dealt a major blow after Dusan Vlahovic decided to go to Juventus instead, while it looks like we may have to look for a different midfielder now that the Arthur deal may collapse.
There are just five days left in this month’s window and Edu has his work cut out for him. He needs to bring in a new striker and a midfielder to boost our top-four hopes. If he doesn’t, Arteta’s men could really end up struggling in the next few months.
