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Juventus hopeful of persuading Arthur to join them after agreeing fee

According to Sky Sports News, Juventus are hopeful of persuading midfielder Arthur to join them from Barcelona after agreeing a fee of around £72.5m with the Spanish giants.

Arthur has been regularly linked with a move to the Turin giants in recent weeks and there have been suggestions that the Bianconeri could sign the midfielder in a swap deal involving Miralem Pjanic.

However, it now appears that the Serie A holders have proposed to sign the Brazilian in a straight-cash deal and they have already agreed on a £72.5m fee with the Blaugrana for his services.

Still, the deal does not remain straightforward and they would need to convince the Brazil international, who has yet to show any intention of parting ways with the Catalan giants.

The Bianconeri currently have a number of options in the centre of the park, but manager Maurizio Sarri is keen on building his midfield around Arthur, similar to how he did with Jorginho at Napoli and Chelsea.

So far, the 23-year-old has been determined to stay put with the Blaugrana, but it will be interesting to see whether his stance changes over the course of the next few weeks.

The former Gremio star has struggled to command regular starts over the course of the current campaign and he has found himself featuring on the bench in more than half of the club’s matches.

Arthur made only his 14th start of the league season against Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday night, but he managed less than an hour’s action before he was replaced with academy graduate Riqui Puig.

With Frenkie de Jong currently on the sidelines with a calf injury, Arthur should see more playing time over the next few weeks, but there are no assurances that he will cement his spot with the vast competition for places.

At full strength, De Jong and Sergio Busquets are automatic starters for the Blaugrana and Arthur may have to compete with the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal and Puig for the third midfield position.

In comparison, Arthur would have a more important role to play for the Bianconeri and only time will tell whether he is prepared to take up a fresh challenge in the Serie A.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com

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