"The hardest year of my life..." - Liverpool star posts emotional message to fans after nightmare spell

Liverpool midfielder Arthur Melo has opened up on "the hardest year" of his life and the difficulties he has faced since joining the Merseyside club.

Arthur signed for Liverpool this summer on deadline day, joining on a season-long loan from Italian club Juventus.

Liverpool paid a loan fee of around £3m for the Brazil international and also have the option to buy him for £33m at the end of the current campaign.

But it looks increasingly unlikely that Jurgen Klopp's side will take it up, with Arthur managing only 13 minutes of first-team football since arriving at Anfield.

A thigh injury sustained at the start of October forced the midfielder to undergo surgery which has kept him sidelined for the majority of the campaign.

And while he is believed to be ahead of schedule in his recovery, he is not expected to be in contention to play for the senior team until the end of January at the very earliest.

Arthur reflects on 'difficult' 2022

On Sunday, he took to Instagram to post an emotional statement – reflecting on the difficulties he faced over the last year.

He wrote: "2022 the hardest year of my life! A complicated football year, with many injuries, many criticisms that I had to listen silently, without at least having the opportunity to expose the truth, what was really happening, many sleepless nights because of physical pain, many days inside from the hospital, the anguish of waiting for the medical report in hope that it wasn't something that could prevent me from doing what I love most, playing football.

"The year in which I took the most development as a football player to achieve my goals. 2022 was the year I dedicated the most off the field, trained the most, tried the most and was the year I had the most problems on the field.

"A year with a lot of emotional turbulence in my personal life, a year that the more I fought, the more things went off track! And the most important thing... 2022 was the year I grew the most as a person, as a son, as a boyfriend, as a friend, as an athlete!

"I just have to thank for the year 2022, for all the learnings, a difficult year, a difficult phase. But it was a year that taught me a lot of lessons and that I will carry to the next years of my life. Thank you 2022 and bring on 2023! Be Strong, Have Faith."

Liverpool will be hoping there are no further setbacks in Arthur's recovery, with a difficult run of fixtures to come at the end of January and start of February.

Klopp's side host top four rivals Chelsea on January 21 and take on Wolves away from home on February 4, before facing Everton in the Merseyside derby at Anfield on February 13.

Up first for Liverpool, however, is a trip to Brentford on Monday night before they take on Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.