When his summer loan with Liverpool expires, Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo has declared he will depart.
The Reds initially had no plans to strengthen their engine room last summer, but injuries to Henderson and Thiago Alcantara at the beginning of the season sparked a last-minute deadline day push.
Liverpool made an agreement to sign Arthur for the 2022–23 season with an option to extend his stay for about £32.5 million rather than fork over the cash for a high-profile midfielder.
The 26-year-old’s tenure on Merseyside, however, has been nothing short of a nightmare as he has only made one senior game for Jurgen Klopp’s team, a 13-minute cameo off the bench in September’s 4-1 Champions League loss to Napoli.
Between October and February, a thigh injury and subsequent surgery kept Arthur out of the game; ever since his recovery, he has been on the outside of Klopp’s squad.
The Brazil international has played against Bournemouth, Manchester City, and Chelsea since the start of the year but has not been included in Liverpool’s squad for any of their previous seven Premier League games.
Arthur started two games for Liverpool’s Under-21 team against Rochdale and Leicester City before having thigh surgery. He also played the whole 90 minutes in a second Premier League 2 match against Leicester City back in February, assisting the Reds in their 7-1 victory.
The former Barcelona player has told Goal that he would say goodbye to the Merseyside club this summer after Liverpool failed to exercise the permanent provision in his contract due to his ongoing problems to make the first squad.
Arthur had nothing but great things to say about the team and Klopp despite his catastrophic time in England, and he is hoping to secure a few rare minutes for Liverpool in the remaining games of the season.
“Hopefully I have the option to say goodbye in Liverpool by playing something, to say goodbye to my teammates, the technical committee, and the fans, who have been very kind to me,” said Arthur.
Since I’ve been here, [Jurgen] Klopp has treated me incredibly nicely. For me, working with Jurgen is a privilege. He is one of the top instructors in the world, and he has always had nothing but positive things to say about me, he is a very remarkable person, and he has always been treated with excellent, elegant, and unique mannerisms.
It always helps you grow as a player to be able to work with someone of his caliber, and you learn a lot from him, so I’m sure it will be helpful in the future.
“Now that I’ve recovered, I would obviously like to be able to play more, but I can understand that the situation now is different from what happened when I arrived because the team had some needs at that time and now it has others. However, I have the peace of mind that when I speak to them and they tell me that no one has any complaints about me, quite the opposite, I.
Additionally, Liverpool as a whole has treated me well, and I have nothing but kind comments and a very unique affection for them. I’ll be able to see it clearly next season. My career will be decided by it, and I am doing extremely well. I’m eager to present this updated version of Arthur.
Arthur has a contract with Juventus that runs until 2025, but with just one goal and one assist in 63 appearances for the Old Lady, it’s unlikely that Massimiliano Allegri would use him in his lineup for the upcoming campaign.
Along with Roberto Firmino, the 26-year-old is now the second player whose departure from Liverpool has been officially confirmed for this summer. James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Naby Keita, who play in the same midfield position, are also anticipated to leave the club when their contracts expire in June.