Thursday, January 13, 2022 at 6:10 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 18:14

Arsenal have personally agreed with Arthur Melo on a six-month lease, reports Sky Italy. The Londoners are urgently looking for a new midfielder and are eager to hire the Brazilian. Juventus is willing to think along, but first wants to get a replacement. The Italians are looking for Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Gianluca Di Marzio knows.

Arsenal hope to borrow Arthur until the end of the season and also want to negotiate an option to buy. The 25-year-old Brazilian came from Barcelona to Juventus a year and a half ago, as part of the sensational swap scheme with Miralem Pjanic. After a first season with a fair amount of playing minutes, Arthur is usually a reserve this year of football under Massimiliano Allegri. The 21-time international has made a total of 43 appearances for Juve, in which he scored 1 goal.

Mikel Arteta has few options in the middle line at Arsenal, especially now that Thomas Partey (Ghana) and Mohamed Elneny (Egypt) have left for the Africa Cup. In addition, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who was sometimes also used as a midfielder, was loaned to AS Roma in January. As a result of few options, eighteen-year-old Charlie Patino made his basic debut last Sunday in the FA Cup game against Nottingham Forrest (1-0 loss).

Arsenal also consider Bruno Guimarães a very interesting option, but Arthur’s compatriot is also considerably more expensive. According to Fabrizio Romano, Olympique Lyon is asking 45 million euros for a winter move from Bruno, making it unlikely that a move to Arsenal is in the cards at the moment. Youri Tielemans is also closely monitored by the gunners. The Belgian is not allowed to leave Leicester City in January, but a transfer is negotiable in the summer. Tielemans’ contract expires in mid-2023 and Leicester wants to prevent a transfer-free departure.