Italian giants Juventus have beaten Arsenal to the signing of Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo. The Bianconeri, who initially started as favourites to sign Melo, appeared to have lost the race to Arsenal after a cash+player ( Emmanuel Eboue) deal had been proposed by the Gunners. But now news has come in that Juve have signed Melo for a fee of €20 million, with Marco Marchionni also moving to the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Melo recently signed a contract extension at Fiorentina, keeping him with the Viola till 2013, but rumours of him moving out kept appearing in the Italian press as he had apparently inserted a release clause in the contract.
Melo started his career with Flamengo in his native Brazil and had short spells with Cruzeiro and Gremio before crossing the Atlantic to play for Mallorca. From Mallorca, he went to Racing Santander, and spent two years there before transferring to Almeria. He joined Fiorentina from Almeria for €13m last season. Melo was also part of the Brazilian team that won the 2009 Confederations Cup in the Rainbow Nation.
Fiorentina are now targetting Swiss international Blerim Dzemaili, who plays for Torino, as a replacement for Melo.
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