As the transfer season edges closer, the rumour mill has started to churn out blockbuster deals involving many big-name players and clubs. <\/p>\n\n\n
Barcelona and Juventus have been reportedly in talks for a swap deal<\/a> involving Arthur Melo and Miralem Pjanic. <\/p>\n\n\n A couple of days ago, a report from Spanish publication Sport revealed that both teams had agreed on a move, which was later refuted by reports from Football Italia. <\/p>\n\n\n Having said that, Juventus CFO Fabio Paratici recently revealed<\/a> that they had indeed opened up a dialogue with Barcelona, and are not against the idea of \u2018swap deals\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n Due to the coronavirus crisis, football clubs\u2019 finances have taken a huge hit, and even European heavyweights like Juventus and Barcelona aren\u2019t immune to the situation. Therefore, they are looking to explore options such as like-for-like swap deals, which wouldn\u2019t hinder the financial aspects of either team. <\/p>\n\n\n If the Arthur-Pjanic swap deal were to go through, which team would benefit more from such a move? <\/p>\n\n\n Here we try to shed light on how both players would fare if they were to be exchanged:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri is keen to add to his midfield options, particularly a deep-lying playmaker. Miralem Pjanic began life well under the new coach this season, but he\u2019s struggled to influence matches from the holding midfield position. <\/p>\n\n\n Arthur meanwhile, joined Barcelona in 2018 from Brazilian club Gemio, and after a difficult debut season, he\u2019s been linked to an exit. While the player remains adamant to stay put and fight for his place, the Catalan giants are seeking to generate cash from player sales. <\/p>\n\n\n They are actively tracking Inter Milan\u2019s Lautaro Martinez<\/a>, but do not have the funds to sign him, and as a consequence, the La Liga champions are looking to move on Arthur. <\/p>\n\n\n Pjanic, for his part, is open to the idea of joining Barcelona, after four seasons with the Old Lady. He sees playing for the Blaugrana a once in a lifetime opportunity, and now that he\u2019s 30 years old, it would be the perfect time to make a switch. <\/p>\n\n\n While both Juventus and Barcelona are still poles apart on the respective valuation of their players, from a sporting perspective, the deal surely does make sense. <\/p>\n\n\n The Brazilian midfielder was initially signed as an apparent heir to Andres Iniesta. Due to his ball retention abilities, Arthur appeals a lot to Maurizio Sarri, who has tracked the player’s progress since he joined Barcelona<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n The 23-year-old likes to play short-passes and can dictate the tempo of the game. It\u2019s very similar to what Jorginho did under Sarri at Napoli. <\/p>\n\n\nWhy the proposed Arthur-Pjanic swap deal makes sense?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
What would Arthur bring to Juventus?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n