Arthur Melo’s commitment to catching up to the standard of his Liverpool teammates will stand him in good stead when it comes to staking a claim for regular first-team minutes (having yet to make his league debut) after the international break.
The Brazilian will also be encouraged further by a comparison made to classy playmaker Thiago Alcantara from former Red Fabio Aurelio.
“I believe Arthur Melo is an interesting addition to this Liverpool squad, and it’s obviously great the Brazilian legacy at Liverpool expands. I hope he has the same success as his compatriots,” the former Red told liverpoolfc.com.
“From what I know about him, he should fit really well in Liverpool’s system.
“He’s a player that likes to constantly be in the game, touching the ball, controlling the pace of play, liking to be dynamic – similar to what Thiago likes to do in a sense.”
The former Bayern Munich star made a full return to the middle of the park in an impressive showing against Ajax in the club’s second Champions League group stage game of the season.
Given how key the Spaniard’s availability seems to be in helping us deliver an overall performance recognisable as an outing from a Jurgen Klopp team at its best, it makes a great deal of sense to have a suitable backup plan should the 31-year-old be forced into another stay on the sidelines.
We’ve no doubt the recruitment and coaching teams will be working in concert to find solutions in the short and long-term to our current reliance on Thiago, though, in the meantime, getting Arthur back up to speed could be critical for our season.
We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed, of course, that Pep Guardiola’s former protege can stay fit for the remainder of the campaign, though it would be a shame to not make use of the clear talent our loan signing has at his disposal.