The agent of Arthur Melo has indicated his client will return to Juventus at the end of the season with Liverpool seemingly having no plans to trigger the option-to-buy clause in the midfielder's loan deal.
The Brazilian made the move to Anfield on the final day of the summer transfer window as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp scrambled around for a replacement for Jordan Henderson, who had sustained a hamstring injury against Newcastle United the night before the deadline.
However, Arthur has only made one appearance for the Reds' first-team in the six months since - an underwhelming 13-minute cameo in the 4-1 drubbing against Napoli back in September - as surgery on a thigh issue left the midfielder sidelined from October to February.
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Speaking about his client in an interview with Tuttomercatoweb, Federico Pastorello confirmed the 26-year-old will be returning to Turin at the end of the season.
"He was unlucky," said Pastorello of his client's wretched stint in England. "He arrived on the last day of the transfer market, he paid off for the season where he played little at Juventus, he was integrating and had a boring injury so he had to operate.
"It was three months of injury, he was on his second bench, I hope he can at least give his contribution. I think he'll come back from loan and then we'll see what to do."
As per their loan agreement back in August, Juventus confirmed Liverpool hold the option, not obligation, of signing the Brazilian on a permanent basis for a fee of €37.5m.
However, with Anfield officials eyeing deals for the likes of Matheus Nunes, Mason Mount and Jude Bellingham ahead of a highly-anticipated midfield overhaul this summer, Arthur's chances of making the full-time move to Merseyside always appeared slim.
The Juventus loanee, however, has returned to action in recent weeks, starting with another appearance for Barry Lewtas' U21s during the 7-1 thrashing of Leicester City in the Premier League 2 last month, and was included in the first-team squad for the recent Premier League defeat to Bournemouth.
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