There is “no chance” Arthur Melo will join Barcelona this summer, says Grêmio’s president, Romildo Bolzan Júnior. “It’s already written down,” he said. “There’s a contract signed and that is not a possibility.”
“Barcelona have never brought to the table any interest in signing Arthur halfway through the [Brazilian] season,” he said.
Grêmio prefer Arthur leave at the end of the Brazilian season, which is the winter transfer window. Barça have already spent four million euro to obtain a buy option for him, and the total cost is expected to raise to 30 million plus nine in add ons, if the Catalans do indeed go through with the purchase.
According to a report written by Fernando Polo and Roger Torelló in Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have sent Pep Segura to Brazil to try to reach an agreement with the Porto Alegre-based club.
They, however, also caution that the deal will depend first on whether Barcelona can successfully offload midfielders themselves, and even then, it won’t be easy to convince Grêmio.
Barça are said to be wary of bringing in a player midway through the season from Brazil, as was the case with Yerry Mina last winter. Mina has had problems adapting to Barcelona, and it stands to reason that a full preseason with the Catalans would have helped.