Considering he won five consecutive Serie A titles, four consecutive Coppa Italias and reached two Champions League finals during his first stint as Juventus manager, Massimiliano Allegri hasn’t been the most popular boss with some members of his squad since returning to the Allianz Stadium after a two-year absence in 2021.
Replacing Andrea Pirlo in the Old Lady hotseat, he oversaw Juventus narrowly clinching a fourth place finish last season to qualify for the Champions League. Yet lost in both the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana finals, while also suffering a shock heavy Champions League round-of-16 exit to Villarreal.
His second stint with the club has also been littered with a plethora of big name exits, including Gianluigi Buffon, Cristiano Ronaldo, Giorgio Chiellini, Matthijs de Ligt, Paulo Dybala and Aaron Ramsey. Having added Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba, Filip Kostic and Leandro Paredes to his midfield this summer, Denis Zakaria and Arthur Melo became Allegri’s latest big-name departures on transfer deadline day as they joined Chelsea and Liverpool on loan respectively.
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While Liverpool fans had spent all summer urging their side to sign a new midfielder, the arrival of Arthur on loan inevitably prompted a mixed reaction. On one hand the 26-year-old is a 22-cap Brazil international who has played for two European heavyweights in Barcelona and Juventus, winning trophies for both along with Copa America for the Selecao, and cost the Old Lady £75m when moving to Turin two years ago.
At a prime footballing age, his peak is still ahead of him while he was a highly-rated talent in Brazil before being lured to Camp Nou. Meanwhile, he knows Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, Alisson and goalkeeping coach Claudio Taffarel well due to his international exploits.
Yet on the other hand he spent just two seasons at both Camp Nou and the Allianz Stadium having ultimately struggled to impress for both, has been plagued by injuries and has been limited to barely more than 20 league appearances in each of the past three seasons, while only featuring twice for Brazil since 2019.
Needs must, however. Injuries to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita and Jordan Henderson in midfield ultimately forced Jurgen Klopp’s hand to prompt such a gamble. If it pays off, Liverpool can sign him permanently at the end of his loan for €37.5m. If not, at least it’s another body to provide much-needed midfield depth for the season ahead before both parties go their separate ways.
Yet Klopp is hopeful Arthur can belatedly deliver on his early potential now he has made the move to Anfield.
"Why can you loan a player like this? Because it didn’t work out 100% at Juventus,” he said to reporters on Friday. “I see that as a positive because the potential is still there. We play differently to Juve and we all thought it could fit pretty well so that’s why I’m pretty pleased."
While Klopp was happy to sign the Brazilian on loan, Allegri was equally, perhaps not surprisingly given his limited impact under his management, hardly disappointed to see him go.
“Paredes arrived with a lot of enthusiasm," he told reporters. "He is an important player who increases the quality level of our midfield with Manuel Locatelli, Nicolo Fagioli and Fabio Miretti. The club’s objective was to keep young players not just to make up the numbers, but because they are ready to play.
“We are waiting for the return of Pogba, while there are players with different characteristics like Rabiot and Weston McKennie. We have shuffled the pack to ensure we have a good mix of different types of players.
“Zakaria had this possibility (to leave). He felt that he didn’t have much space and accepted the opportunity with great enthusiasm. I wish him and Arthur all the best, they are still fine players. We made our choices and they are happy, so we completed the squad as best we could."
Given the number of big-name exits and frozen out midfielders, unsurprisingly the finger of blame for Arthur’s failings has been pointed in Allegri and Juventus’ direction by some. After all, even Klopp pointed out how different things could be for his new signing in a completely different set-up at Liverpool.
And former Inter Milan and Fiorentina defender Daniele Adani, who is now a well-known pundit and commentator in Italy, has sarcastically taken aim at Allegri following Arthur’s switch to Anfield, suggesting he didn’t make the most of the Brazilian’s talents.
“The news is that Arthur is so bad that he joined Liverpool,” he said in an Instagram video. “So, after saying that Arthur was bad, we must say the same of Klopp…poor football.”
Adani is known for not being on good terms with Allegri, having clashed with the Italian back in 2018 near the end of his first stint with Juventus. Continuing to criticise the Juve manager’s' playing style, he recently claimed he is always looking for excuses and responsible for the likes of Dejan Kulusevski's move to Tottenham Hotspur.
“Allegri is a passer-by at Juventus, the club belongs to Agnelli and the fans,” he said last month. “The team’s problems are an excuse because Juventus don’t have someone playing football. Arthur is out of the squad, Adrien Rabiot was close to Man United.
“Why did Juve sell Rodrigo Bentancur, Joao Cancelo and Dejan Kulusevski? Self-criticism is needed sometimes; Juventus and their fans deserve respect.”
Yet it is Adani’s example of that trio, and Bentancur and Kulusevski in particular, that should give Liverpool hope that Arthur can produce his best form at Anfield despite his failings in Turin.
Cancelo spent just a season at Juventus under Allegri, making just 25 Serie A appearances before being sold to Man City in a deal worth £27.4m plus Danilo. He's now one of the best full-backs in European football.
Meanwhile, Bentancur and Kulusevski both joined Tottenham back in January with the Uruguayan costing up to £21.5m with potential add-ons. Starting all 20 of the Premier League games he has featured in since his debut, with only injury preventing him from playing in the other two, the 25-year-old is one of the first names on Antonio Conte's teamsheet.
Meanwhile, the Swede was signed on an 18-month loan deal that cost Spurs £8.3m, with the club having an obligation to sign him permanently for £29.2m if certain sporting criteria are met. Having returned six goals and 10 assists from 23 Premier League appearances to date, establishing himself as one of the most exciting forwards in the Premier League, thanks to his role in a deadly attacking triumvirate alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, it seems only a matter of time before Spurs make a permanent transfer official.
Given the pair were hardly first-choice under Allegri, making 13 and five Serie A starts respectively under him during the first half of last season, Spurs were understandably hardly excited by the pair’s arrival back in January. Eight months on and they are both firm fan-favourites having been unleashed in a system that suits them perfectly.
While it will be a big ask for Arthur to make a similar impact at Anfield, Tottenham have at least set the perfect example of life after Juventus and Allegri. Just because you flopped in Turin, doesn’t mean you won’t flourish in England.
The Brazilian will make a swift return to Italy with a potential Liverpool debut coming away at Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday, having remained on the bench throughout the Merseyside derby on Saturday. With the Reds missing a number of midfielders to injury, the stage is the 26-year-old’s to ensure they aren’t missed too much.
Playing for a permanent move to Anfield, Arthur will hope linking up with Klopp unearths his true talent and enables him to make it third-time lucky at a footballing heavyweight. Kopites will initially greet his arrival with scepticism but if he follows in his two former team-mates’ footsteps, it won’t take him long at all to win Liverpool fans over and become Allegri’s latest one that got away.
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