Barcelona boss Quique Setien has insisted that he is still counting on Arthur, despite the midfielder’s imminent move to Juventus.
The Arthur-Miralem Pjanic swap deal appeared to be in its closing stages, with RAC1 reporting earlier that the Brazilian would travel to Turin this weekend.
However, the moves cannot go through until next season and Setien is expecting the 23-year-old to join the squad for their match at Celta Vigo on Saturday.
“As it stands, I still have Arthur,” he said at a press conference.
Barcelona boss Quique Setien has insisted that he is still counting on Arthur, despite the midfielder’s imminent move to Juventus.
The Arthur-Miralem Pjanic swap deal appeared to be in its closing stages, with RAC1 reporting earlier that the Brazilian would travel to Turin this weekend.
However, the moves cannot go through until next season and Setien is expecting the 23-year-old to join the squad for their match at Celta Vigo on Saturday.
“As it stands, I still have Arthur,” he said at a press conference.
“He’s an important player like everyone else in the squad and we’ll need him. As it stands, he’ll train and travel with us, and he could play tomorrow.
“He has to try to avoid all this noise and, if he has to go out and play, he has to try to do his best.
“The club hasn’t told me that he’s been sold, but the situation is extremely unusual.
“The reality is that any player in his situation must be clear the season isn’t over and that there are still important games left to play.
“In his position, players want to end the season well, leave behind a good memory of themselves and try to win a trophy.
“It’s a situation that has affected us and I hope there will be maximum honesty and professionalism from all my players until the end of the season.”
On the other hand, he admitted Arthur had struggled to live up to ‘expectations’ at Camp Nou.
“He wouldn’t be the first or last player with high expectations, whereby things haven’t turned out as expected.
“I don’t know if he’ll leave us, but there will be people who think that it’s better to keep him for his youth and people who don’t.”
It may well be that Arthur arrives in Turin on Sunday, travelling after Barca play Celta tomorrow.