Premier League loanee Arthur Melo is set to return to his parent club, Juventus, when his time at Liverpool comes to an end, according to his agent Federico Pastorello in an interview with Tuttomercatoweb.
Liverpool had signed Arthur on a season-long loan from Juventus during the final day of the summer transfer window in 2022, with manager Jurgen Klopp hoping to add more depth to his midfield. However, Arthur's time at Liverpool has been plagued by injuries, and he has only played 13 minutes for the club before suffering a long-term thigh injury in October.
Despite Arthur's injury issues, his agent remains optimistic that the Brazilian midfielder can still make a contribution to Liverpool before his loan spell ends. Pastorello explained that Arthur's recovery from his injury was taking longer than expected and that the player was only recently back on the bench for Liverpool's recent match against Bournemouth.
Looking ahead to the future, Pastorello stated that he expects Arthur to return to Juventus when his loan spell at Liverpool comes to an end. He went on to say that they will then evaluate what to do next regarding Arthur's future.
Although there is an option-to-buy clause in Arthur's Liverpool contract, which would set the club back around £37 million, it seems unlikely that Liverpool will trigger this option given Arthur's injury record and lack of game time. Therefore, a return to Juventus appears to be the most probable outcome for Arthur at this stage.
Arthur, who joined Juventus in a swap deal with Miralem Pjanic from Barcelona, has struggled to establish himself in Italy due to recurring injuries. He has missed over 20 games in just two years at Juventus due to a variety of fitness problems. However, despite these injury setbacks, Arthur remains a highly rated player, and Juventus will likely welcome him back with open arms when he returns from Liverpool.