Barcelona reportedly want to bring in Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic with Arthur going in the other direction. The club want to get quite a few of their players off the wage bill, with midfielder Arthur one of them.
As per The Independent, Barca are keen to exchange Arthur for Juventus’ Miralem Pjanic. The likes of Nelson Semedo, Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic are also being offered to other clubs on exchange deals.
The 23-year-old midfielder joined the club in 2018 but seems to have fallen out of favour, starting just 13 La Liga games in the 2019-20 season. The Brazilian was, at first, not interested in moving to Juve, but he could apparently be “persuaded” to switch to the Italian giants.
Arthur for Pjanic: Does it make any sense?
Arthur is a fine player with great technical ability, capable of controlling the tempo of the game with his passing and dribbling. The midfielder rarely gives away the ball, averaging a whopping 91% pass completion rate. He is also a confident dribbler with the Brazilian flair to get past players and create chances in the final third.
But, he is similar to Barca’s star signing last summer, Frenkie de Jong, who also possesses the same qualities that Arthur has. Arthur’s inconsistency may have led to him being dropped from the starting XI.
Miralem Pjanic, too, has tremendous technical ability, capable of spraying the ball around from midfield. Pjanic is adept at keeping the ball, passing it long and short, while also having more energy and bite in midfield than Arthur. The 30-year-old is an experienced figure who has excelled in Serie A and put on solid performances in the Champions League over the years.
The deal to swap Pjanic for Arthur makes sense for both teams. Pjanic could bring energy, aggression, and great passing ability in midfield, and would complement de Jong very well. The young Dutch midfielder’s game could improve alongside a mature and experienced figure like Pjanic.
Juventus, meanwhile, would also benefit from the deal as Arthur is a player who could thrive alongside experienced players like Blaise Matuidi and Sami Khedira, as well as promising young midfielder, Rodrigo Betancur. Juve’s experienced squad needs a few younger players like Arthur to rebuild the team, which has quite a few players who are on the wrong side of 30.