Gennaro Gattuso has given Juventus bad news by insisting Valencia ‘simply cannot afford’ to take Arthur Melo on loan because of his ‘prohibitive salary.’
The midfielder is not part of Max Allegri’s plans and at circa €8m per season net is one of the highest earners at the club.
They are desperate to get him off the books this season and had hoped Valencia would bring him in on loan, but even that might not be possible.
“Arthur has a prohibitive salary for us,” Gattuso told Diario AS after the 2-1 friendly win over Atalanta.
“He is a great player, but we simply don’t have the possibility of signing this type of player.”
Juventus are open to covering some of Arthur’s wages during the loan period, but Valencia want that to be over 60 per cent, which might be a bit too much for the Bianconeri.
They hope that by playing regularly in LaLiga, Arthur can earn a permanent transfer next summer.
The Brazilian was signed from Barcelona as part of the deal bringing Miralem Pjanic to Camp Nou.
He turns 26 next week and in September 2020 was valued on the transfer market by the two clubs at €76m.