Messi compared him to Xavi, now he’s 27 years old and nobody remembers him

Lionel Messi was the great figure of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona that marked an era, but that team also had world-class figures such as Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves, among others. Later, he formed a historic trident with Neymar and Luis Suárez, but this also ended up dissolving. In this context, the culé team tried without success to find replacements for the aforementioned and spent a fortune on footballers who did not end up working out.

Although the most remembered were Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembélé, there were also other failed signings that were not cheap at all. One of them was Arthur Melo, a central midfielder who arrived from Gremio in 2018 in exchange for 31 million euros. This Brazilian footballer initially excited and surprised Lionel Messi himself, but then his performance dropped and Barcelona ended up exchanging him for Miralem Pjanić with Juventus. 

Now, although Arthur had the privilege of sharing a team with Cristiano Ronaldo, he failed to stand out in Turin and was loaned to Liverpool, where it did not work out either. Thus, in June of this year he went on loan to Fiorentina at the age of 27, where he is a starter, but does not stand out.

What did Messi say about Arthur?

In 2018, Leo spoke with Catalunya Ràdio and, when asked about the additions, he stated: "They are all very good, but if I have to say one, I'll choose Arthur. I was surprised, the truth is that I didn't know him very well and, except for the similarities and comparisons, it is true that it is very similar to Xavi's style of play: always wanting the ball, playing short, not losing it...".

And he concluded in this regard: “He is a very reliable player, you know that you give it to him and he is not going to lose it. The truth is that it surprised me, although I already told you that I liked all the signings the club made this summer.”