Liverpool were allegedly keen on securing the services of another Juventus loanee in now Chelsea man Denis Zakaria prior to moving for Arthur Melo.
This update comes courtesy of Calciomercato (via Sport Witness), with the publication asserting that it’s unclear whether the reported lack of financial agreement was between the player and club or the Reds and Juventus.
The Merseysiders ended up agreeing a season-long loan for the former of the two options, which includes an option-to-buy worth £32.3m (payable over two seasons) for the 26-year-old.
Should the Brazilian prove to be worth every penny, it would seem to be one hell of a bargain for us to snap up a technical midfielder close to reaching his prime for only £16m initially before his potential second season at Anfield.
There’s a chance, of course, that the former Blaugrana man will confirm some fans’ suspicions that he is just merely ‘another body’ secured to bolster our dwindling midfield options.
That’s an extremely harsh assessment of our new addition before he’s even kicked a ball in the famous red shirt and he could yet prove to be a stunning, underrated piece of business from a recruitment team that has well and truly earnt its stripes throughout the Klopp era.
#Ep58 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Rating Liverpool’s UCL group, making a new signing… & more!