By Betsefy
Liverpool may reportedly be willing to let Juventus loanee Arthur leave the club in January if they can strike a permanent deal for a new midfielder.
The Reds held off on adding to their midfield ranks during the summer transfer window, with Jurgen Klopp prepared to wait until 2023 before making a big-money signing.
However, as the injuries started to pile up, Liverpool scrambled to find a last-minute solution while the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita, Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain took up spots in the medical bay.
Liverpool moved quickly to sign Arthur on a season-long loan from Juventus on transfer deadline day, and the Italian club revealed that a €37.5m (£32.5m) option to buy clause is also part of the deal.
The 26-year-old’s lack of recent competitive action for Juventus has led to Klopp easing him in slowly, and he made his debut in last week’s 4-1 defeat to Napoli in the Champions League.
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Arthur played just 13 minutes of that game as James Milner got the nod ahead of him in midfield, and he has been an unused substitute against both Everton and most recently Ajax.
While the Brazilian is contracted to Anfield until the summer of 2023, Tuttomercatoweb claims that his loan spell may be cut short over the winter if Liverpool are able to sign a new midfielder.
The report suggests that Arthur is not the profile of player that Klopp was aiming to secure a deal for over the summer, and the Reds would not hesitate to send the midfielder back to Turin.
However, Arthur is seemingly not in the plans of Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri, who had no qualms over letting the ex-Barcelona man leave on deadline day despite Paul Pogba‘s serious injury.
Arthur’s deal with the Old Lady does not expire until the end of the 2024-25 season, but with Liverpool not expected to take up their option to make the deal permanent, his future remains shrouded in uncertainty.
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In terms of big-name midfielders on Liverpool’s radar, Borussia Dortmund and England starlet Jude Bellingham has long-been linked with a move to Anfield.
The 19-year-old has already established himself as a key man for club and country and opened the scoring for Edin Terzic‘s side in their 2-1 Champions League loss to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Bellingham confirmed over the summer that he would remain at the Westfalenstadion for the 2022-23 campaign, and Dortmund were unlikely to sanction a sale either way.
However, an intense battle for the midfielder’s services is expected to take place in 2023, with Liverpool joined by Manchester United in the race to bring him back to his homeland.
Inter Milan’s Nicolo Barella and PSV Eindhoven’s Ibrahim Sangare have also been mentioned as possible targets for the Reds, although the latter signed a new deal with the Dutch side until 2027 last month.
