Following Italy’s claims that Liverpool could terminate Arthur’s loan deal in January, a reliable journalist moved to clarify the speculation surrounding the No. 29.
Just over two weeks have passed since the surprise decision to bring Brazilian midfielder Arthur on a season-long loan from Juventus.
The decision to sanction a temporary deal came in the wake of Jordan Henderson’s hamstring injury, adding to problems for Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones.
In fact, so far this season, Fabinho, Harvey Elliott and James Milner are the only midfielders who have not missed a game due to injury.
Arthur was not hired to play a first-choice role in Klopp’s side, but earlier this week, claims by Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb suggested his stay could even be cut short.
It was argued that “he is not at the level expected”, and his 13-minute cameo against Napoli was said to be “enough to understand that he does not fit the type of player Jurgen Klopp was looking for”.
They stated that Liverpool “would not be afraid to terminate Arthur’s loan deal” in January, especially if they bring in another midfielder.
Of course, the source is far from reliable, although the speculation was picked up by the Liverpool Echo and SportBible.
But journalist Guillem Balague, who appears to have connections to Arthur having been among those who broke the news about his move to Merseyside, has moved to dismiss the rumours.
“Liverpool have not decided to extend the loan or buy Arthur, but have no intention of sending him back in January. They are still evaluating it,” Balague wrote on Twitter.
In fact, the coaching staff complimented him on his understanding of the system and its quality.
“He decided to ignore the days off to continue working because he knows he still has to catch up with the demands.
“He’s working on an individualized fitness plan to get up to speed because he didn’t have a regular preseason. Pretty standard stuff considering the lack of match fitness.”
As Balague points out, it’s no surprise that Liverpool are taking a cautious approach to Arthur’s fitness, as the 26-year-old only logged 1,533 minutes for Juventus last year and did not feature during their pre-season.
With Thiago now fit and Henderson and Jones not expected to be far away, the competition for places in Klopp’s midfield will only increase.
However, there seems to be no chance at this stage that the deal with Arthur will be cut short.
