Barcelona agreed to sell Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo to Juventus on Monday for €72 million plus a potential €10 million in add-ons, the Spanish side announced.
Arthur – who joined Barcelona from Gremio in July 2018 for €31 million – will see out the remainder of the La Liga campaign before joining Juventus.
Miralem Pjanic, meanwhile, is expected to leave the Bianconeri for the Blaugrana for a reported €60 million, though that deal is yet to be confirmed.
It’s widely believed the clubs agreed to swap midfielders for financial reasons. Each team will now report an accounting profit for the fiscal year ending June 30 and therefore stay within UEFA’s Financial Fair Play guidelines.
Barcelona reportedly needed a cash injection of €70 million before June 30 to avoid catastrophic losses caused in part by the coronavirus pandemic.
The reigning La Liga champions will record Arthur’s sale in full and lessen the hit of Pjanic’s fee by dividing it over the length of his contract. Juventus will do the same with the proceeds from Pjanic’s sale.
Arthur initially wanted to stay at Barcelona but the club pressured him to accept a transfer, according to ESPN’s Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens. …read more