Liverpool have not decided to send Arthur Melo back to Juventus in January and are still assessing the midfielder, according to Guillem Balague.
Arthur arrived at Anfield from the Serie A side on deadline day on a season-long loan as the Reds desperately looked for a midfielder to ease their shortage in that department.
The deal includes a €4.5 million loan fee, as well as an option to buy the player for €37.5 million at the end of this campaign.
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With the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones, Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all missing games this season through injury, the Liverpool hierarchy were forced into dipping into the market and acquiring a midfielder late in the window.
However, just weeks into the Brazilian’s stint on Merseyside, reports emerged this week that Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff have been left unimpressed by their new addition and are considering cutting the deal short in the winter window.
Reliable journalist Guilliem Balague has dismissed these rumours, claiming that they are still monitoring the player and have actually been impressed with how he’s settled in the North West.
Writing on twitter, Balague said: “Liverpool have not decided to extend the loan or buy Arthur but have no intention to send him back in January. They are still assessing him.
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“In fact the coaching staff congratulated him on his understanding of the system and his quality. He (Arthur) has decided to ignore days off to keep working as he knows he still has got to catch up with demands.
“He’s working on an individualised fitness plan to get him up to speed because he didn’t have a regular pre-season. Pretty standard stuff considering the lack of match fitness.”
The 26-year-old has thus far been limited to just a 13 minute cameo in Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat to Napoli last week.
Despite Liverpool’s clear intent on moving for a new central midfielder at some point in the near future, reports that they’d given up on Arthur so soon did appear bizarrely premature.
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The former Barcelona midfielder will inevitably play an important role for Klopp’s side in upcoming months, in which the fixture schedule becomes extremely congested.
Topics: Liverpool
Alfie Culshaw