Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar helped convince Arthur Melo to join Barcelona this summer, the former Gremio player has revealed.
Neymar’s world record move to PSG led to a feud with the Barca board but that didn’t stop him offering Arthur some advice earlier this year.
Arthur joined the La Liga champions this month from Gremio for an initial fee of €31 million, turning down “interesting offers” from other clubs in favour of a move to the Camp Nou.
“When I was deciding whether to come or not, [Neymar] sent me a message full of positive things about Barca,” Arthur told Mundo Deportivo. “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, who has already drawn comparisons with Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta during his first week at Barcelona, will line up alongside five-time world player of the year Lionel Messi, who is due to return to training in the coming weeks following Argentina’s round-of-16 elimination from the World Cup.
“My dream is to get to know Messi and to play with him,” Arthur added. “He’s the best in the world.”
There will also be the chance to strike up a partnership with compatriot Philippe Coutinho, who Arthur has trained with when called up to the Brazil senior squad.
Arthur is yet to make his senior Brazil debut.
“I exchanged some messages with [Coutinho] on the day of my presentation,” he said. “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.”
Arthur, along with fellow new signing Clement Lenglet, has been training with Ernesto Valverde’s side for the last week.
Barca fly to the United States on Monday, where they will take part in a training camp at the Nike headquarters in Beaverton before playing friendlies in Pasadena (Tottenham Hotspur), Arlington (AS Roma) and Santa Clara (AC Milan).
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