Report: 26-year-old Klopp’s only picked once this year has actually really impressed Liverpool’s coaches

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Upon his arrival at Kirkby, Liverpool staff were impressed by how loan-signing Arthur Melo conducted himself in getting up to speed and match fit.

That’s what’s reported in The Athletic, after the 26-year-old was ultimately brought to Merseyside following a hamstring injury suffered by Jordan Henderson, which exacerbated the Reds’ fitness woes in the midfield.

However, having struggled with various injuries whilst at Juventus and Barcelona, the Brazilian was never going to be match fit upon his arrival at Anfield, after becoming surplus to requirements in Turin.

Prior to his Liverpool move, Melo had not played football competitive since May. Therefore, he was always going to be unavailable to make an instant impact at the club.

In spite of this, Liverpool staff at Kirkby were impressed by the midfielder’s determination to get up to speed behind the scenes. He even featured twice for the Reds’ U21’s side as he looked to gain match fitness.

Liverpool staff impressed by Arthur Melo’s commitment

Despite his commitment behind the scenes at Kirkby, Melo was subsequently ruled out for up to fourth months after undergoing surgery on a torn thigh muscle.

As a result, the 26-year-old has thus far played only 13 minutes of first-team football under manager Jurgen Klopp, after making a brief appearance in the Champions League against Napoli.

Although the player’s determination to make his loan move successful is very admirable, Liverpool’s recruitment staff ultimately got the midfield situation all wrong this summer.

Back in January 2021, the Reds were struggling through a centre-back injury crisis. Rather than identifying the danger of this occurring before the start of the season, the side only decided to act towards the very end of the winter transfer window.

Consequently, they welcomed Ben Davies from Preston and Ozan Kabak on loan from Schalke. Liverpool ended the campaign with Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams at the helm; the former now a squad player at Anfield and the latter now a loanee at Blackpool.

More disappointingly, Davies never even made a single appearance for the Reds during his short period with the club, before he joined Sheffield United on loan and subsequently moved to Rangers this summer.

Looking at this fiasco, parallels can be highlighted between the two situations. Despite his hard-working nature, Melo’s dilemma at Kirkby could have easily been avoided if it were for a bit of pre-planning and willingness to dip into the transfer market by Liverpool’s recruitment staff.