Liverpool Won’t Trigger Purchase Option on Arthur Melo Loan

When Liverpool lost the race to sign Aurélien Tchouaméni to Real Madrid last summer and then failed to convince Borussia Dortmund to consider a sale of Jude Bellingham, the Reds gambled on 26-year-old Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo.

The former Barcelona man had at one point been considered a highly promising talent but had seen his career fail to advance as expected, but there was some hope he could get back on track under Jürgen Klopp and a loan with an option to buy was agreed.

The player almost immediately suffered an injury and has since been sidelined for the majority of the season, and so it’s hardly a surprise now to have it confirmed by his agent that Liverpool don’t intend to trigger his purchase option.

“He was unlucky,” said agent Federico Pastorello of Arthur’s Liverpool move and what will be remembered as a wasted season for all involved. “He arrived on the last day of the transfer market following a season where he played little at Juventus.

“He was integrating and then had an injury that requited an operation. It was three months of injury, and since then he’s been on the bench. I hope he can at least give a contribution, but then I think he will come back from loan and we’ll see what to do.”