Barcelona’s new signing Arthur Melo already got a lot of appreciation right after his arrival in the Spanish club. The latest one to do so is his team mate Rafinha and it’s a big one as he is compared to the club legend Xavi Hernandez.
Arthur Melo is one of the signing of Barcelona in this transfer window.
Arthur struck with a curling effort from the edge of the box as Barca drew 2-2 with the London side in the International Champions Cup, winning on penalties.
The 21-year-old played the first 45 minutes and looked at ease in his first appearance.
After the match, midfielder Rafinha said:
“I don’t like to make comparisons usually. But he has a touch of Xavi about him. t’s the way he touches the ball, the way he passes it. He’s a great, great signing for Barcelona.”
Coach Ernesto Valverde, who gave debuts to new signings Clement Lenglet and Malcom, was also impressed.
“Arthur’s a player that we think can give us a lot of things and he’s shown that today. He’s good in possession, on the ball, carrying it forward, he can get in areas to shoot.”
“Both Lenglet and Arthur have had some time training with the team now. There were fewer doubts with Lenglet because he’s come from La Liga. But we’re working on Arthur’s [adaption]. This was his first game, his debut, and he was motivated. It was a good display.”
Midfielders Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes were taken off with hamstring problems. They could miss the rest of Barca’s tour of the U.S.
“I liked a lot of things about the performance. The way we tried to dominate the game, especially in the first half, and the performances of youth players. There were more positives than negatives. The negatives were just the injuries. There will be tests on Sunday but it’s possible they won’t finish the tour with us.”