CalcioMercato have revealed that Tottenham’s capture of Rodrigo Bentancur ended Arsenal’s hopes of snapping up Arthur Melo from Juventus during the January transfer window.
Bentancur joined Spurs on transfer deadline day along with Dejan Kulusevski and the Uruguayan has enjoyed a promising start to life in North London.
Juventus signed Denis Zakaria from Borussia Monchengladbach as Bentancur’s replacement but CalcioMercato have now stated that it was Arthur who was initially expected to make way for the Swiss international.
The report claims that a move to Arsenal was a ‘concrete option’ for the Brazilian, whose ‘bags were ready’ to leave Turin in January.
It is explained that the Gunners were locked in negotiations with Juve over Arthur but there was still some distance between the two parties heading into the final few days of the transfer window.
However, Bentancur’s sale to Tottenham is said to have put an end to the Arthur negotiations between Arsenal and Juve.
Spurs Web Opinion
So, not only did Paratici strengthen our squad in January but it sounds like he also managed to ensure that our direct rivals for a top-four spot were not able to strengthen theirs.
I have been mightily impressed with what I have seen from Bentancur in a Spurs shirt so far. Hopefully, he will only become better as he gets accustomed to the Premier League.
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