Gremio CEO confirms meeting with Barcelona officials to finalise Arthur transfer

Gremio CEO Carlos Amodeo has confirmed that he is set to meet with officials from Barcelona on Monday (5 March) to iron out the final details of Arthur's proposed transfer to the Nou Camp.

Arthur has been heavily tipped to join Ernesto Valverde's side since December, when he was photographed in a Blaugrana shirt alongside club technical secretary Robert Fernandez.

Chelsea, Manchester United [Daily Mail] and even Real Madrid [Marca] have also been linked with the 21-year-old midfielder in recent months, but in early February Mundo Deportivo reported that Fernandez had made another trip to Brazil in order to step up negotiations and win the race.

Only days later, Sport announced that the Barcelona chief had managed to secure an agreement in principle for Arthur to make the move to the Nou Camp in January 2019.

The report added that the transfer will be worth €30m (£26.7m, $36.9m) plus an extra €10m in variables, with €5m to be paid when Arthur plays a certain amount of games for Barcelona and the remaining €5m if he signs a contract renewal with the La Liga giants.

Arthur himself later confirmed that negotiations between all parties were on track.

"I haven't signed anything yet but the negotiations are going on track," he was quoted as saying by Sport.

Last week, the chief of staff of Gremio president Romildo Bozan Jr confirmed that the agreement was done and only pending the contracts drafts being completed.

"Everything is agreed, the numbers are already closed. All that remains is to draft the contracts, which can probably be finalised this week," he told Mundo Deportivo.

Later Brazilian outlet UOL revealed that Gremio CEO Amodeo and lawyer Gabriel Vieira were due to fly to Barcelona to meet with their Catalan counterparts and complete the transfer.

Both arrived in Spain over the weekend and Amodeo has now confirmed that they will meet with Barcelona general manager Pep Segura and club CEO Oscar Grau on Monday to iron out the final details of the agreement.

"We are waiting to know the time but we will meet with Pep Segura and Òscar Grau," Amodeo told Mundo Deportivo from his hotel in Barcelona.

"We had good harmony in the meetings [with Robert Fernandez] in Brazil but there is some points to discuss with them. The transfer would be for January 2019, there would be no clause that would allow [Barcelona] to advance the signing of Arthur for this summer."

Iniesta replacement?

Arthur has garnered a reputation as one of the next big things to emerge from Brazil and Amodeo believes that he could eventually become the long-term replacement for Andres Iniesta at Barcelona.

"It's difficult to say because he's still young but, because of his style, Barcelona would be getting a player similar to Iniesta," the Gremio CEO said to Mundo Deportivo when asked about Arthur's profile.

The Catalans have been hunting for a long-term replacement for Iniesta for a while with the club captain set to turn 34 in May.

Valverde already added Philippe Coutinho to his squad during the recent January transfer window but the former Liverpool ace normally plays in a more advanced role.

Sport recently reported that Iniesta could consider leaving Barcelona for the Chinese Super League (CSL) this summer. However, regardless of what happens with the captain, Gremio have made it clear that Arthur will not move to the Nou Camp until the second half of the 2018-19 season.