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West Ham United want to sign Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo
West Ham United are set to rival fellow London club Arsenal in the race to sign Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo, according to CaughtOffside.
The 25-year-old is thought to be heading out of Turin this summer after a disappointing spell with the Old Lady and the Gunners had been thought as the favourites to secure his signature.
But now the Hammers have entered the hunt and that Mikel Arteta no longer sees the Brazilian as a priority in his summer transfer plans.
With Mark Noble retiring and Alex Kral heading back to Spartak Moscow, David Moyes is in need of a new central midfielder or two having previously played Pablo Fornals in a deeper role to accommodate his lack of depth.
Declan Rice looks set to stay having been offered a new deal and the same can be said of Tomas Soucek and the three of them would make a very exciting central third.
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Arthur has a lot of class to show but in his time at both Juve and Barcelona, he has struggled to unlock that magic which has led to him being a fringe player at both clubs.
But as much as we might say West Ham are massive, we aren’t a club the size of those so someone like him could find a great home at the London Stadium.
With Rice and Soucek behind him, he would finally have the license to bomb forward and affect the attacking third of the pitch rather than sit as an anchor as he has often been asked to do previously.
Moyes has a lot of holes he needs to fill in his squad and midfield isn’t necessarily the main priority but if Arthur is available for a bargain deal, the Irons would be absolutely bonkers not to try and get a deal done before Arsenal, or anyone else for that matter, swoop in and steal him from under our noses.
In other West Ham news, a club owner in the EFL has issued a hands-off warning to clubs pursuing a player he calls “God’s gift.”
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