Barcelona open legal action against Arthur Melo, and will not cancel contract

The details are outlined by Marca, who claim that they will not comply with the Brazilian’s request to allow him to join Juventus earlier than the end date of the 2019/20 season, which will conclude following August’s Champions League matches.

Earlier this week, it had emerged that Arthur had not returned to the club’s training facilities as planned to prepare for the European matches as he already has an agreement in place to join Juve and has no intention of playing for Quique Setien’s side again.

Arthur then followed through with the threat and has not returned to the club’s facilities on Monday, in what is now being viewed as a breach of contract as the club refused to allow him permission to stay in Brazil.