Reports: Valencia make offer for Arthur

With the summer window wide open, the transfer rumor mill continues apace, and Juventus are very much mentioned in the newest reports.

That’s especially true with the midfield, where they continue to try to trim some fat. After finally getting out from under Aaron Ramsey’s contract this week, there’s another wantaway mid that’s in the news with what looks like a concrete offer, albeit not one that particularly blows one away.

It’s reported that Valencia, helmed by new manager Gennaro Gattuso, have made a concrete offer for the services of Arthur Melo, although it will likely take some negotiating for anything to be concrete.

According to TuttoMercatoWeb (h/t Football Italia) the offer has come in the form of a loan. The catch is that the Spanish club would need Juve to split half of the Brazilian’s €5 million salary.

Now, TuttoMercatoWeb isn’t exactly the most exemplary source known to man, but both Fabrizio Romano and Nicolo Schira have issued similar reports about Valencia’s interest in the last 48 hours, lending a lot more credence to the notion. Specifically, both reporters point out Valencia’s need for assistance in paying Arthur’s salary—a fact that doesn’t bode well for any potential options or obligations to buy to be tacked onto the deal.

Juve would certainly like for such a condition to be there, as they’d like to definitively separate themselves from the player as opposed to having to do this whole song and dance again. The TuttoMercatoWeb report does mention that Valencia are aware of potential competition from Arsenal and a potential return to Barcelona, although concrete offers in either case have not yet appeared, and if either of them make an offer to buy him outright that will likely be the offer Juve takes. Arthur’s contract runs until 2025, having officially signed in the 2020 summer window in a swap-plus-cash deal with Barca that sent Miralem Pjanic the other way.

It’s likely this saga will continue to play out until Juve can get a formula, from Valencia or elsewhere, that ensures a definitive exit. Completing that task will open another spot in the midfield, either for an outside buy like Leandro Paredes or to keep another of Juve’s talented young mids on the team. But until we find a definitive arrangement, the Brazilian remains in limbo.