Crystal Palace have plenty of exciting targets right now but only one has drawn Xavi comparisons and from the greatest of all time as well.
Oliver Glasner can be nothing but pleased with the work done by Dougie Freedman this summer so far, but he’ll be wanting a lot more done before mid-August arrives.
At Crystal Palace, the arrivals of Chadi Riad and Daichi Kamada already have started things strong, while Ryan Sessegnon also looks likely to make the move.
But there are still numerous players being linked with a new midfielder among the positions now getting attention.
One of the club’s targets has also been compared with Xavi, which is an excellent insight into what he’d bring to the club.
Lionel Messi once compared Arthur Melo to Xavi
Earlier this week, Palace were linked with making a move to sign Arthur Melo from Juventus. The report sees Arthur as a target with Thiago Motta not keen to use the Brazilian midfielder this summer.
He’s just come off a solid season for Fiorentina which saw him feature 48 times, but despite the decent player he’s turned out to be, Lionel Messi had higher expectations for him.
As quoted by Sport 45 in Spain, Messi admitted Arthur reminded him of Xavi and also had a Barcelona style of play.
“Arthur I didn’t know that much about but he seems similar to Xavi. He’s very safe and trustworthy. He has the La Masia style.
“Playing short passes, without losing the ball, and he grasped it quickly, the dynamic of the team.”
This is very high praise from the man commonly referred to as the greatest of all time. But what might Arthur bring to Selhurst Park?
Arthur Melo key strengths amid Palace links
Melo’s strengths as a midfielder sit quite narrowly in his in-possession play which could be a problem for Glasner who expects high intensity from his midfielders.
In the last 365 days, Melo’s stats tell a similar story according to FBRef.
This table shows the four areas Melo thrives in, while defensively and in terms of dribbling and carrying the ball he is less than impressive.
Despite being an excellent passer, from an outside view, he simply doesn’t have all the qualities which Glasner will want from his team and with Adam Wharton already a sure starter along with Cheick Doucoure, Jefferson Lerma and Will Hughes, another midfielder who will be on upwards of £87k-a-week probably isn’t the right move.
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