Barcelona Blasted For ‘Baffling’ Decision To Sell Arthur

Arthur Melo

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Barcelona are facing criticism for their decision to sell midfielder Arthur to Serie A champions Juventus.

The 23-year-old insisted in April he wanted to stay at Barcelona but is expected to complete a move to Turin before the end of June, according to Roger Torello at Mundo Deportivo.

Arthur’s departure comes as a surprise as he only arrived in Barcelona in summer 2018 from Gremio and has played regularly. Barcelona is expected to bring in 30-year-old Miralem Pjanic from Juventus as his replacement which has also raised eyebrows.

La Liga commentator Andy West explained why he thinks it’s a “baffling” decision by the Catalan giants:

Meanwhile, the potential transfer deal has been described as a “scandal” by Catalunya Radio’s Jordi Costa who said Barcelona should have patience with their young midfielder.

Why Are Barcelona Selling Arthur?

So just why are Barcelona selling Arthur? The midfielder has bags of potential, only cost the club €40 million, and has featured 26 times in all competitions this season despite missing a chunk of the campaign with injury.

The youngster has already been capped 20 times by Brazil and had seemed desperate to succeed at the Camp Nou if his comments back in April are anything to go by.

“The supposed interest of big clubs is always flattering and a positive sign, but my mind is on playing for Barcelona for many years. Barça is where I have always wanted to be and I want to be here for a long time.”

Football blog Swiss Ramble attempted an explanation of what is a complicated deal between the two clubs.

Santi Ovalle at Cadena SER has reported that Barcelona have told Arthur to look for a new club and that they need to raise funds to buy a striker. The club has been heavily linked with a move for Inter’s Lautaro Martinez.

Pjanic to Join an Ageing Midfield

The potential arrival of Pjanic means the Barcelona midfield is seriously lacking in youth but does have bags of experience. Sergio Busquets turns 32 next month, Arturo Vidal is 33, and Ivan Rakitic 32.

Barcelona did invest in youth last summer, bringing in Frenkie de Jong from Dutch side Ajax. The 23-year-old is expected to be the long-term replacement for Busquets in midfield.

The club also has some promising youngsters close to making the breakthrough into the first team which offers optimism for the future. Riqui Puig has enjoyed some impressive cameos off the bench this season and is being tipped to make his first La Liga start of 2019-20 on Saturday against Celta Vigo.

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