Arthur rebels and tells Barcelona he will no longer play for the club

Posted Tuesday, July 28, 2020 by Marca.com

Arthur Melo has informed Barcelona that he has no intention to play for the club again.

Following his transfer to Juventus, Quique Setien stopped relying on the Brazilian midfielder in the last stretch of the LaLiga Santander season, and Arthur is unhappy with the treatment.

Arthur has not appeared after the Barcelona squad were given the week off by his coach following the end of the LaLiga Santander campaign, despite being summoned to take a COVID-19 test.

The rest of the Blaugrana players returned and passed their coronavirus tests on Monday.

Arthur has also requested that Barcelona terminate what is left of his contract - until the end of the Champions League - and is currently in talks to do so.

The club have made clear that Arthur is still a Barcelona player and given he did not make the appointment on Monday, will take disciplinary action.

Arthur has made it clear to the club that he does not want to wear the Barcelona shirt again, as he feels forced out of the club when he indicated that he wanted to stay.

Champions League problem

If Arthur doesn't rejoin his Barcelona teammates for the Champions League match against Napoli, there could be selection issues for Setien.

Between injuries and suspensions, Setien is light on midfielders for the game with just Frankie de Jong and Sergi Roberto available as first team players. Riqui Puig will also be called upon.

Nevertheless, it is and was doubtful that Arthur would have played in the match anyway, but not having him at least on the bench for an emergency could represent a problem for the Blaugrana.