Juventus 'Agree €80m Fee' to Sign Barcelona Midfielder Arthur

Juventus have agreed a €80m fee with Barcelona for midfielder Arthur Melo, with Maurizio Sarri keen to build his midfield around the Brazilian, in a deal which is likely to be followed by Miralem Pjanic going the other way for around €10m less.

Arthur has made 26 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona in 2019/20, but he has been linked with a move away. Serie A giants Juventus and Inter have continued to show an interest in him for a while, despite the fact that the Brazilian has made it clear he wishes to stay at Camp Nou.

Sky Sports now report, however, that I Bianconeri have agreed an €80m fee with Barcelona for the midfielder. Despite his reservations about leaving Barça, Juventus hope to persuade him. Manager Sarri is keen to build his midfield around Arthur in a similar way to how he did with Jorginho during his time at Napoli and Chelsea.

Juventus have offered the 23-year-old €5m a year in wages, which is significantly more than he currently earns at Barcelona. However, despite a fee being agreed, Arthur's preference is still to remain at Barcelona and fight for his place.

As has been reported for a while, Juventus' Pjanic could head in the opposite direction, although there are complications to this. Pjanic is said to be valued at around €70m, but Sky Sports' report states that Barcelona do not feel Pjanic is worth just £9m (€10m) less than Arthur.

Pjanic is believed to have already agreed his own terms with Barcelona, but the finer details of a potential deal are still yet to be worked out, while Arthur has also not yet given his blessing.

Barcelona's financial problems as a result of the coronavirus have been well-documented, and the club have been actively looking to offload a number of players. They have lowered their valuation of Philippe Coutinho again in an attempt to raise funds as they look to balance the books before the end of the financial year.