Liverpool were linked with a move for a midfielder all summer before signing Arthur Melo on deadline day and reports claim they were in Thiago’s brother Rafinha.
The Reds settled on a loan move for Arthur Melo from Juventus, who could make his debut later today against Napoli in the Champions League.
With the window nearing its end, plenty of last-minute recruits were linked with a move, after months of denial from manager Jurgen Klopp that they needed to sign a midfielder to help cope with both their poor start and injuries.
Settling on the experienced, but injury-prone, Arthur shows us that the signing was always going to be a temporary one and now the links to Rafinha confirm this too.
Rafinha leaves Paris Saint-Germain and joins Al Arabi Qatar. Been told it’s permanent move, joins on free transfer from PSG — and signs for two years. 🚨🔴🔵 #transfers
Deal completed today, medical already done. pic.twitter.com/wP50fk2bV7
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 3, 2022
Liverpool in for Thiago’s brother?
With Liverpool scrambling around in the dying embers of the transfer window for a midfield signing, their attention, at one point, had turned to the brother of their best midfielder Thiago.
Liverpool’s late search for midfield reinforcements, which saw Arthur Melo move to Anfield on deadline day, also saw the Reds look into the possibility of signing Thiago Alcantara’s brother, Rafinha from PSG.
According to Fabrizio Romano, who was speaking on YouTube: “Liverpool explored many possibilities, I can tell you one of the names they had on the list was Rafinha from PSG.”
The Brazilian had returned from being on loan at Real Sociedad and was allowed to leave on a free transfer from PSG.
With no moves from Merseyside, or any other genuine offers to stay in Europe, he chose to move to Qatar to play for Al-Arabi Sports Club.
Rafinha – a poor option in hindsight?
Given that Rafinha’s best days are behind him, the interest doesn’t really make sense in hindsight.
He played less than 1,500 minutes in all competitions last season. Although, he started 13 of the 17 appearances he made in the league.
In his prime, he was an energetic, technically sound midfielder who was a squad player as part of the great Barcelona team that he worked his way up to from the academy.
He went on to play for PSG, Inter Milan and Celta Vigo but never was a regular starter at any of those clubs.
Despite that, his stats reflect an all-round, technically proficient midfielder and one who is statistically similar to Eduardo Camavainga and N’golo Kante.
But it seems they went with the more possession-based style of midfielder that Arthur Melo is.
