Arsenal may reportedly be struggling to get the loan transfer of Arthur Melo over the line as negotiations with Juventus stall.
This is according to a report from Tuttomercatoweb, and many Gunners fans will no doubt be disappointed if they fail to strengthen their central midfield options this January.
However, could this end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise for Arsenal? It might not seem like it now, but perhaps in the long run it will end up looking like a bit of a bullet dodged.
Although clearly a player with great natural ability, Arthur has had an underwhelming career in Europe so far, having flopped at Barcelona before also falling out of favour at current club Juventus.
The Brazil international may well be a better option than someone like Granit Xhaka, but Arsenal can probably also do a little better, and this development may force them to look elsewhere.
It may be that Arsenal already have a far more exciting deal in the pipeline, with Goal recently reporting that Youri Tielemans’ agent met the club for talks at their London Colney training ground.
And even if another signing isn’t made any time soon, there’s arguably a case for the club board telling manager Mikel Arteta to do more with the players he has.
Thomas Partey was an expensive signing for Arsenal and has struggled so far, but we saw at Atletico Madrid that the Ghana international is a world class talent on his day, so there’s little excuse for Arteta not to try to get more out of him.
Arsenal also signed promising youngster Albert Sambi Lokonga this summer, and it’s worth giving the Belgian more chances to develop before simply looking for further signings in that area of the pitch.
Arsenal should never have been putting all their eggs into the Arthur basket, and now, perhaps there’s an opportunity to do something better.
Youri Tielemans is d man .. tried & tested in the EPL ‼️