Arthur so shocked by Fiorentina goal he forgot to keep promise

Arthur Melo admits even he was so shocked that he finally scored a goal that he got told off by his girlfriend, but thanks Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano. ‘He always asks!’

The midfielder got the winner against Monza this evening, after Milan Djuric and Nico Gonzalez headers, turning Warren Bondo to drill right-footed into the far bottom corner from outside the box.

Italiano joked it was Arthur’s first goal in “7-8 years,” although in truth it was a little more recent in January 2021.

“He always asks me to go for goal, so I finally did it and I scored! I thanked him, he always urges me to try and now we are all happy,” grinned Arthur on Sky Sport Italia.

“I still need to improve a lot, I know that. One of my best areas is pushing forward and providing assists, I realise that I need to be more vertical, more attacking. Half the credit for the goal goes to Italiano, as he keeps telling me to do it.”

There was a moment during the interview when one of the lights fell down behind them and Arthur joked this was another sign something was up.

“It’s all strange things happening today! I score a goal, things collapse…”

The Sky Sport Italia studio joked the noise was Italiano fainting that Arthur had finally scored a goal.

What a solo effort that is from Arthur Melo ????

???? @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/s0x4EucNeM

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 13, 2024

It seems that the former Juventus, Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder was so shocked by finding the net that he completely forgot to do the goal celebration he promised his girlfriend.

She told him off with messages on the phone, so he did it on Sky Sport Italia instead, although the mime was so bad it needed explaining.

“She learned to cook in Italy, here in Florence, she went to a culinary school, so I promised to mime her slicing.”

Arthur was valued at €80m when moving from Barcelona to Juventus, but had barely played until this loan to Fiorentina due to multiple injury problems.

“I feel very good, I thank the medical and fitness staff. This is the season where I played the most minutes, which is very important for me after a nasty injury. I have to thank everyone, also the coach for having faith in me.”

Fiorentina are in the Conference League Final against Olympiacos and are desperate to get silverware for their director Joe Barone, who died in March.

“Considering everything that happened with Joe, it would be too wonderful if we managed to get the trophy for him. It’s what we all want.”