Despite Brazilian forward Neymar Jrleft Barcelona, he has helped his former side to buy his national teammate, Arthur Melo.

Interestingly, Melo, the midfielder joined Spain-based professional football club Barcelona following the transfer window.

The former Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense player, Melo revealed Neymar helped to convince him to join Barcelona this summer.

Arthur joined the La Liga champions this month from Gremio for an initial fee of €31 million. He turned down “interesting offers” from other clubs in favour of a move to the Camp Nou.

Arthur told Mundo Deportivo:

“When I was deciding whether to come or not, [Neymar] sent me a message full of positive things about Barca. He told me about a wonderful club, full of receptive people, a wonderful city, nice weather, a good way of living. Everything he said was really positive and he told me that I would like it here.”

Arthur will line up alongside five-time world player of the year Lionel Messi. Messi is all set to return to training in the coming weeks following Argentina’s round-of-16 elimination from the 2018 World Cup.

“My dream is to get to know Messi and to play with him. He’s the best in the world,” Melo added.

There will also be the chance to strike up a partnership with compatriot Philippe Coutinho, who Melo has trained with when called up to Brazil’s senior squad.

“I exchanged some messages with [Coutinho] on the day of my presentation. I have his support. We will soon be together in the best team in the world and we will share a lot of experiences with each other. We’ve played together [trained] before with the national team. He’s an outstanding player, he’s an incredible dribbler and has a great strike. I like how he touches the ball. It’s a pleasure to play alongside him.”