Arsenal transfer news: Promising update emerges on £22.5m star Gunners 'very keen' to sign | OneFootball

TalkSPORT reporter Alex Crook said that Arsenal would be very keen on signing Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo.

Mikel Arteta's side have been strongly linked with the 21-cap Brazilian this month as he looks to bolster his midfield options before the window closes in under two weeks.

What's the latest news with Melo?

According to Football.London, Arsenal were hoping to complete a deal for the £22.5m-rated man ahead of the postponed North London derby last Sunday. They were even trying to get him registered in time to be involved against Tottenham, although that eventually became redundant.

Arteta currently has just two midfield options at his disposal, and one of them, Granit Xhaka, is suspended.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been allowed to join Roma on loan, while Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny are both at the African Cup of Nations. Albert Sambi Lokonga is Arteta's only available midfielder ahead of their Carabao Cup second leg tie with Liverpool and Premier League meeting on Sunday.

Therefore, Arsenal were trying to accelerate a move to sign Melo, who's been a long-term target for the Gunners, last week, although they've so far been unsuccessful. Crook believes that their hopes of signing the 22-year-old have stalled because Juventus have been unable to find a replacement.

What did Crook say about Arthur?

He told GIVEMESPORT: "The more interesting one is Arthur at Juventus. Juve have said that if they can sign a replacement, they would be willing to send him out on loan, and Arsenal would be very keen on that."

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How has Melo performed this season?

It's been a bit of a nothing campaign, which keeps in line with how the majority of his Juve career has panned out since he made the £66m move from Barcelona in the summer of 2020.

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Melo, who earns £125,000 per-week, has started just 17 of a possible 60 Serie A games, and while he missed 11 of those due to various injuries, even when the midfielder has been fit, he's never been a regular.

Having recovered from surgery in early October, Melo has played just over 500 minutes across all competitions and would surely improve his game-time with a move to the Emirates this month.

There's no guarantee that Melo will adapt to Premier League football having struggled to make his mark in Italy but having already been signed for a combined transfer fee of more than £100m, he would at worst be a good option for Arteta.