Barcelona could suffer a hammer blow in their squad as one of their players has edged closer to completing a move to Italy to sign for Juventus.
Juventus sporting director Fabio Paritici confirmed in a recent interview that the club is in talks with Barcelona over a likely swap deal that would see Arthur Melo arrive in Italy while Miralem Pjanic would switch pastures and head over to Spain. Having received confirmation of the deal, most formalities will begin gathering pace in a few weeks if the move is to go through.
Arthur’s signing will be beneficial for the Old Lady of Turin and most importantly for Maurizio Sarri who needs someone like him. The Brazil international has a very good vision and can find passes, thereby allowing the building up process to be smooth. That said, the former Gremio man already plays a very high band of football and is one of the world’s best in his position.
Diario GOL has claimed that the 23-year-old has given Cristiano Ronaldo his word on moving to the Allianz Stadium. Barca are willing to offload their central midfielder in order to raise cash. Moreover, they are not happy with his lifestyle off the pitch and that has certainly boiled down to his performances which have taken a massive hit this season.
Nonetheless, Juventus need to be optimistic because when Arthur is part of a much smaller city that is Turin alongside some very senior players such as Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon, he will have no other option but to pull his socks up and get his act straight. Additionally, he will feel more wanted by the Bianconeri supporters who are never as harsh as the ones in La Liga.
Barca are looking forward to this deal going in their favour as they are likely to receive some cash in addition to a very experienced midfielder. However, Lionel Messi is not happy that Arthur is being sold due to the fact that he was seen widely as a successor to Xavi and helped the Argentinian in easing some pressure in the creative department.
Moving to Juventus will give Arthur a much-needed break from the slack media that’s existent in countries like England and Spain, but also allow to compete at an extremely high footballing level and in the UEFA Champions League on a regular basis. Given that his value is close to 80 million euros, Juve could have to pay somewhere near 35 million for him.
Are you in favour of Arthur signing up with the Old Lady or would you like the club to go for other options?