Brazil and Liverpool midfielder Arthur Melo has officially been ruled out of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar after failing to recover from an injury, the player announced on his social media.
“Sadly, as you know, an unfortunate injury to my left thigh will keep me out of action for a while,” Melo wrote.
“It comes just at a time when, after huge effort and lots of hard work, I was ready to establish myself in my new team and determined to fight for my dream of playing at the World Cup.”
The 26-year-old sustained the injury during a practice session adding more woes for an already injury-hit Liverpool side. He was brought in on the deadline day from Juventus to assuage the issue but had failed to see much action under Jurgen Klopp.
He was yet to make a single Premier League appearance for the Reds with his sole outing coming as a substitute in a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Napoli last month.
The club paid a loan fee of €4.5 million for his services and also has the option of making the deal permanent for €37.5m which they are unlikely to follow up.
Despite his slow start, the Brazilian was eager to make up for lost time and earn his place with the injury ruining those plans.
His struggles at the club level have not deterred Brazil’s coach from heading 22 caps to Arthur Melo who was almost certain to hear his name called for the World Cup.
Brazil is in Group G along with Switzerland, Serbia, and Cameroon.
