Callum Wilson has slammed Arthur Melo’s decision to shake Pep Guardiola’s hand as the Manchester City manager was celebrating a goal in their 4-1 win against Liverpool on Saturday.
Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, the Newcastle United striker believed that the 26-year-old was wrong to interact with the City boss as Arthur shook Guardiola’s hand in one of the more unusual moments from Liverpool’s defeat at the Etihad.
Wilson said on Arthur’s decision to lure into Guardiola’s childish antics: “I just think if that’s me walking past, my head is falling off when the manager is celebrating in front of me. I’m not ever shaking his hand and some of your people were doing that.”
Whilst the incident hasn’t caused as much backlash as one would imagine, Wilson is right to say that he could never do such an act with an opposing manager, with Arthur rightly being shamed by the Newcastle striker for interacting with Guardiola.
Indeed, although Arthur is only at Liverpool on loan, the Brazilian should still hold the club’s values as highly as the next player in the squad, and the midfielder should feel disappointed with what he did on Saturday in what was another lowlight for the South American’s time on Merseyside.
Arthur’s handshake with Guardiola summed up his Liverpool loan spell
Few predicted Arthur to set the world alight at Liverpool, yet it’s still quite astonishing just how bad the midfielder has been for the Anfield side since joining on loan last summer on deadline day, with the handshake with Guardiola a moment that summarised his entire spell on Merseyside.
With Liverpool unlikely to take up the option to sign the Brazilian on a permanent deal, Arthur will be hoping that he can soon get his career back on track having stalled with the Reds and over the past few years at Juventus, and this latest incident will do little to help his case in the coming years.