Pundit makes surprising Liverpool player claim as club staff 'embarrassed'
Alan Hutton has surprisingly claimed Arthur Melo's transfer failure at Liverpool was simply "bad luck".
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Tottenham and Aston Villa defender said that there is always a risk that a transfer won't work out as he revealed a different take on the deal to most observers and even Anfield fans.
On Sunday (9 April), sources told this site that the recruitment team at Anfield have been left "embarrassed" by the signing of the 26-year-old.
The Merseysiders paid a loan fee of almost £4million to take on Melo for a season after injuries to Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara left them short in the middle of the park.
But, the Brazil international picked up a serious thigh injury shortly after his arrival and has been sidelined for the majority of the season.
Melo has made just one appearance for the senior side since his summer arrival.
Football Insider revealed on Saturday (8 April) that Liverpool have told the midfielder that they won’t be signing him permanently this summer.
When asked if the recruitment team could have done more to prevent the problems they faced with Melo, Hutton told Football Insider: "I think it is just bad luck, it happens.
"I think at the time they were desperate for reinforcements in the midfield, they had a lot of injuries.
"He is obviously a great player, they would not have signed him if they did not think he could come in and do a job.
"Then you pick up an injury that keeps you out for this length of time, it is not ideal.
"You can't foresee that, nobody has got a crystal ball.
"Flip side of that is he could have come in, hit the ground running and been an absolute star. With all transfers there is a risk involved and this one just has not worked."