Why Arthur Melo’s Arsenal move fell through

Arthur Melo’s proposed loan move to Arsenal was vetoed by Josh Kroenke and the cub hierarchy, 90min understands.

The Juventus midfielder had agreed personal terms to join the Gunners on loan in January, however as we reported, his parent club were unwilling to green light any short term move – preferring to offload the player on a longer-term basis.

As such Arsenal’s initial offer of a six month loan – despite the club being willing to pay Arthur’s €168k-a-week wages in full – was not deemed acceptable.

Juve were willing to allow Arthur to move to the Emirates Stadium on an 18-month loan, with an option to make the move permanent for €40m in the summer of 2024, and Arsenal’s technical director Edu was happy with these terms.

Despite Edu giving an 18-month loan the ok, we have been told that Josh Kroenke said ‘no way’ to the terms and vetoed the move – with the other members of the club hierarchy backing Kroenke’s decision to do so.

The news will likely irk Arsenal fans after their club allowed 14 players to leave in January and failed to sign any of their main targets.

Dusan Vlahovic, Bruno Guimaraes, Donny van de Beek and Denis Zakaria were among the players the Gunners had a reported interest in throughout the January window, however all four moved elsewhere.

Due to this, Mikel Arteta will have to contend with having a rather threadbare squad for the rest of the season.