Barcelona confirm £75.2m exit of Arthur Melo to Juventus

06/29/2020

Barcelona confirm £75.2m exit of Arthur to Juventus… with Miralem Pjanic set to move the other way in the coming days

Arthur’s move from Barcelona to Juventus has been confirmed by Spanish club
Brazilian leaves in deal worth £75.2m and Miralem Pjanic is set to go other way
Getting rid of Arthur by end of June allows Barcelona to avoid FFP sanctions
When July begins, they will be able to complete the signing of Pjanic from Juve

Barcelona have confirmed the sale of midfielder Arthur Melo to Juventus in a deal worth £75.2million.

The Spanish giants tweeted the news of the Brazilian’s departure on Monday afternoon, and are expected to announce the arrival of Miralem Pjanic from Juve in the coming days.

Arthur’s departure before the end of June allows the Spanish giants to recoup sufficient funds to avoid Financial Fair Play penalties, before they begin again with a clean slate on July 1 and can then sign Pjanic.

Arthur (right) will leave Barcelona for Juventus at the end of the season, in a deal worth £75.2m

Arthur (in the white jumper) was captured arriving at Turin airport late on Saturday evening

Arthur will remain with Barcelona until the end of the 2019-20 season, before leaving for Turin in a deal initially worth £66m, rising to £75.2m.

He has played 72 times for the current LaLiga champions since arriving from Gremio, scoring four goals across his two seasons at the Nou Camp.

Initial reports claimed the Brazilian was unhappy at being shipped out to Juventus as part of the Pjanic deal, while it was then written elsewhere that he was coming around to the idea and would accept a switch.

Arthur was pictured touching down in Turin ahead of his medical on Sunday, and he is now believed to have signed a five-year deal with the Italian giants.

Arthur underwent a medical on Sunday before the move was officially announced on Monday

The Barcelona midfielder was initially reluctant to leave Spain but the exit is now confirmed

At Juve, he will see his £84,000-a-week salary double, and he leaves Barca with the club in disarray under the stewardship of Quique Setien.

At the weekend, the players and coaches were said to be involved in a post-match row after dropping two points at Celta Vigo, with Arthur’s presence on the pitch one of the reasons for the players’ ire.

It was reported that Antoine Griezmann and Arthur replacing Luis Suarez and Riqui Puig late on at Balaidos had angered some sections of the squad.

Setien also hit out at Arthur on Friday, saying that he has fallen flat at the Nou Camp.

The move will see 30-year-old Miralem Pjanic head in the opposite direction to Barcelona

Quique Setien hit out at Arthur last week and he leaves with Barcelona in complete disarray

‘Arthur is neither the first player nor the last to sign for a club with high expectations that do not bear fruit,’ Setien told reporters.

‘Maybe he lacked a bit of continuity. It is not easy to change things that other coaches have told him were good, like holding the ball when we want to play two touches.’

Those comments have angered Arthur’s mother, who has taken to Twitter to slam the experienced coach.

‘My God, now they will start finding flaws with the player,’ she posted.