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Liverpool are a very different team when they play without Thiago, but a former Red believes they have a player who is “similar” to him.
Speaking to liverpoolfc.com, Fabio Aurelio has suggested Arthur Melo could grow to become well suited to a role understudying the midfielder.
Aurelio claimed, “Arthur Melo is an interesting addition to this Liverpool squad, and it’s obviously the Brazilian legacy at Liverpool expands.
“I hope he [Arthur] has the same success as his compatriots. From what I know about him, he should fit really well in Liverpool’s system"
“He’s a player that likes to constantly be in the game, touching the ball, controlling the pace of play, liking to be dynamic – similar to what Thiago likes to do in a sense.”
When it became clear that Liverpool needed to recruit a midfielder this summer, signing a player with a profile similar to Thiago’s appeared to be a sensible course of action.
Despite struggling a bit during his first season in England, the Spaniard eventually adapted well, becoming one of Jurgen Klopp's most important players.
The Reds have even somewhat become dependent on him and their struggles to date this season have evidenced this. Thiago has been side-lined through injury, and Liverpool have been poor.
The issue with Thiago is that Liverpool can’t really rely on him. Since joining the club, he has failed to start more than 20 games in a single Premier League season.
It is thus easy to understand why fans are a bit confused as to why their club have signed a player in Arthur Melo who isn’t ready to play.
Arthur has shown his talents at Barcelona and Juventus over the years, but he’s currently playing with Liverpool’s youth sides to regain fitness.
Thus, if Thiago were to pick up another injury before the World Cup, Melo still might not be ready to step in.
Aurelio correctly identifies Arthur Melo’s qualities. But he needs to get fit, and quickly.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
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