Barcelona have reportedly reached an agreement with Gremio in a deal that will see midfielder Arthur Melo sign for the current La Liga leaders.
According to ESPN and their esteemed sources, Barcelona have finally managed to reach an agreement in principle to sign Arthur Melo from Gremio. The Brazilian midfielder is set to sign for the current La Liga leaders and is most likely to arrive in January, 2019, although, a summer move has not been ruled out.
The deal is reported to be one which could go up to €40 million, with a €30 million upfront transfer fee along with an additional €10 million in add-ons and incentivised bonuses. It is worth noting that Gremio had earlier slapped an asking price of nearly €50 million on Arthur Melo.
According to Brazilian newspaper @UOLEsporte, Barcelona has reached an agreement with Grêmio for Arthur Melo (21). The final ‘go-ahead’ from Grêmio will be given tomorrow – from current details, it looks like deal could be completed for €30m + €10m (performance bonuses). pic.twitter.com/stkXEBEmIi
— ᵁᴸᵀᴿᴬ® (@UltraAutistic) February 20, 2018
But, Gremio own only 60% of the player rights, with the rest of it being shared by Arthur’s investor Celso Rigo and his family. And, it is the admission of his family that they would not take any share of the fee that has perhaps seen Gremio and Barcelona agree a lower fee.
Arthur Melo has been going about his business silently, compared to the other talented prodigies that have emerged from Brazil in the recent past. But, the summer transfer window of 2017 saw interest arrive from Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United and many more clubs, with Barcelona the ones primed to nab the 21-year-old.
Barcelona have signed Paulinho and Philippe Coutinho to beef up their midfield. But, both are relatively more enterprising while going forward and hence, there still remains a need to add an industrious box-to-box midfielder to the squad, which is where Arthur Melo comes in.
In fact, the player was even pictured in a Barcelona shirt in January, fuelling rumours of a deal already in place to sign Arthur Melo. The rumours were immediately quashed by Gremio, who then reportedly, slapped a hefty price tag on their midfield asset while hinting that the incident could hinder their negotiations between them and Barcelona.
But, as it seems, Barcelona have finally been able to agree a fee with Gremio and Arthur Melo, who has often publicly admitted of being an admirer of the club, will be elated to see his dream come true, be it in the summer of January of 2019.
