Romano hints Arsenal need ‘different kind of player’ to Liverpool man after ‘important proposal failed

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has suggested that Arsenal are in need of a “different kind of player” to Arthur Melo after they failed to sign Douglas Luiz.

From an Arsenal perspective, the end of the transfer window was overshadowed by their search for a new midfielder.

This is not entirely fair because as a whole, they had a successful summer as Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko were among their signings.

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Arsenal’s need for a midfielder increased later in the window as Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny picked up injuries.

This left them with just Granit Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga to choose from and this is less than ideal.

The Gunners pursued Douglas Luiz on deadline day and they had three bids rejected for the Aston Villa midfielder.

His contract expires in 2023 and their final offer was understood to be worth around £25m including add-ons.

Arsenal could get themselves a bargain next summer though as a free transfer will be on the cards if Luiz decides against extending his contract.

Back in January, the Londoners spent most of their time targeting Arthur Melo and Dusan Vlahovic.

Neither player ended up joining the Gunners. Vlahovic was signed by Juventus on a permanent deal while Arthur has moved to Liverpool on loan.

Jurgen Klopp’s side decided to bring him in after Jordan Henderson picked up an injury.

Romano has argued that Arsenal do not need Arthur while the “waiting strategy” will help them in their pursuit of Luiz:

“Arsenal fans may already be concerned about the club’s decision not to sign a midfielder, and it’s true that they look a bit light in that department while Thomas Partey is injured,” Romano wrote for Caught Offside. 

“Certainly, it was not ideal to go into a big game against Man United with Albert Sambi Lokonga partnering Granit Xhaka, but I also think fans should trust the strategy of Edu in the transfer market.

“It was almost impossible to negotiate with Aston Villa for Douglas Luiz and I think £25m was already a very important proposal. I am sure that the waiting strategy will still help like last January, rather than investing in a player the club does not believe in.

“Obviously Arthur was available and ended up moving to Liverpool, and there was interest from Arsenal in the past, but I believe they needed a different kind of player than Arthur this summer.”