Liverpool have confirmed the arrival of Arthur Melo from Juventus on a season-long loan deal.
The Reds made their move in the early hours of transfer deadline day after discovering captain Jordan Henderson had suffered a hamstring problem in the 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Wednesday evening. He'll wear the number 29 shirt.
Having initially explored a number of options in recent days, it's believed the club's recruitment team significantly stepped up their efforts to bolster the ranks after it became clear Henderson was set to join Thiago Alcantara, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita on the list of injured midfielders at Anfield.
Juventus have claimed Liverpool have an option to make it permanent next year for a fee of £32m with the Italians also suggesting the Reds have paid around £3.5m for the loan.
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Arthur, who made 16 starts for the Italian giants last term, will be cleared to make his Liverpool debut in time for Saturday's Merseyside derby with Everton after flying in from Turin on Thursday morning to complete the formalities of his medical. There is no option to buy included in the deal.
The Brazil midfielder has 22 caps for the Selecao but has not featured for his national side since 2019 and arrives as something of a short-term solution due to the number of problems in the centre of the park.
Thiago is currently sidelined with a hamstring issue picked up against Fulham on August 6, while Oxlade-Chamberlain has been absent since the pre-season victory over Crystal Palace in Singapore in mid-July. Keita initially missed the start of the season through illness before suffering injury on the eve of the trip to Manchester United on August 22.
Curtis Jones is also yet to return to match action having picked up a calf problem in the closing stages of the Community Shield win over Manchester City last month and the issues in the engine room are part of a wider crisis for Klopp that has also seen him without Diogo Jota, Ibrahima Konate, Caoimhin Kelleher or Calvin Ramsay this term. Joel Matip has featured just once this season also.
It was reported that Sporting Lisbon were set to land Arthur prior to Liverpool 's late move in the window. The midfielder joined Juventus from Barcelona two years ago as part of a swap deal with Miralem Pjanic but has fallen down the pecking order in Italy.
Arthur becomes Liverpool's fourth signing of the summer after the captures of Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Ramsay.
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