Over the course of January, one story dominated the Arsenal rumour mill, and that was the Gunners’ reported interest in Arthur Melo.
The Juventus midfielder was said to be one of the players the Serie A side were ready to sacrifice during the winter transfer window if they could get money for him, and while negotiations did take place between the two sides, an agreement was never found.
Part of that was due to Arsenal’s reluctance to make long-term commitments for the Brazilian, as they were only interested in a short deal, preferably one that would see him only stick around for six months.
Calciomercato look back at how January panned out for Arthur, explaining his ‘bags were ready’ at the beginning of the month, seen as the ‘first suspect’ to leave Turin and make room for Denis Zakaria.
The problem, though, was ‘too much distance between the Gunners’ proposal, a dry and then onerous loan, and the request of Juventus, who pushed for a permanent solution’.
So, it all came down to details, albeit important ones, but it appears that Arsenal did have a genuine interest in the midfielder, only for their reluctance to commit seeing them eventually miss out on a player who has since started two of the last four league games under Max Allegri.
