"Deserved to play a bit more" - Agent feels ex-Liverpool star wasn't given enough chances by Jurgen Klopp 

Arthur Melo's agent Frederico Pastorello believes his client should have played more for Liverpool last season.

The Reds were in urgent need of a new midfielder during the closing stages of the summer transfer window in 2022 following Jordan Henderson's injury. They signed Arthur on a season-long £4 million loan deal from Juventus with an option to make it permanent for £33 million.

But things didn't turn out well for the Brazilian midfielder on Merseyside. He underwent surgery on an injury in October and was ruled out for several months. Even after he returned, he struggled to find favor under Jurgen Klopp, making just a single senior appearance across competitions last term.

Arthur returned to Juventus this summer and was quickly loaned out to fellow Serie A side Fiorentina. Pastorello, in an interview with Tuttomercatoweb.com, thanked La Viola's chiefs for listening to his proposal and said:

"First of all I publicly thank Joe Barone and Daniele Prade [Fiorentina chiefs], as well as Vincenzo Italiano [manager].

"They had the courage to listen to my insistent invitation to think about this player, because coming from such a difficult season like the one at Liverpool, with an injury that lasted longer than expected and a difficult recovery, even though in my opinion he deserved to play a little more, it wasn't easy to pick him up."

Liverpool, of course, did not exercise the option to sign Arthur permanently this season. Instead, they ended the recently-concluded summer transfer window having signed Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Gravenberch to bolster their midfield.

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Agent sheds light on former Liverpool midfielder's future at Fiorentina

Frederico Pastorello also shed light on Arthur Melo's long-term future at Fiorentina. He confirmed that the Italian club have the option to purchase the former Liverpool midfielder permanently.

The agent continued, via the aforementioned source, as relayed by Football-Italia.net

"It’s only November, so there is a long way to go until the end of the season. There is a release clause, but that was only put there to give Fiorentina the option of signing him. However, Arthur has very high wages and that provides problems.

"At the end of the campaign, we will sit down and calmly see what is to be done. The important thing right now is that Arthur is happy and so are Fiorentina."

Arthur, now 27, spent two years at Barcelona, making 72 appearances across competitions, before making the move to Juventus in 2020. He has made 63 appearances for the Old Lady since then and has been loaned out twice — including the 2022-23 season at Liverpool.

Arthur has made 17 appearances across competitions for Fiorentina this season, assisting one goal.