Arthur is set to leave Liverpool after the final day of the season on Sunday, and Jurgen Klopp has paid tribute to the loanee despite his frustration.
In years to come, Arthur will be looked back on as one of the strangest signings of Klopp’s reign at Anfield, alongside the likes of Steven Caulker and Ben Davies.
With midfield options short, an emergency loan deal was struck with Juventus on deadline day in August, with Liverpool paying a handsome £3.9 million to secure his services for the campaign.
A long-term calf injury hampered his progress, and ahead of the trip to Southampton on Sunday, Arthur has clocked just 13 minutes on the pitch for the club.
Quite simply, the squad he rejoined upon his return to fitness in February was much stronger, and bigger, than that which he was brought into last summer.
In his programme notes for the Anfield closer against Aston Villa last weekend, Klopp confirmed his No. 29 would depart and lauded his “professionalism.”
“I would also like to wish Arthur Melo well as his loan period comes to an end,” the manager wrote.
“Circumstances meant Arthur was not able to play as much as he would have liked but his professionalism and ability were clear to all who worked with him.”
Klopp’s words emphasise perhaps how Arthur’s time at Liverpool should be viewed: an unfortunate season in which he was always set to be the odd one out.
The club did agree a purchase option in their deal with Juventus, worth £32.3 million, but it was always unlikely that it would be activated.
But in his sporadic appearances for and training with the under-21s, for example, the Brazilian could be seen as a player desperate to revive his flagging career on Merseyside.
His spells with both Barcelona and Juventus have struggled to ignite, and Arthur has more recently been linked with move back to Brazil.
He proved a popular member of the squad at Liverpool, nonetheless, but it is no surprise that there was no consideration for him to stay beyond the end of this season.
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