As we all know, the Regista is one of the most celebrated positions in Calcio. This role refers to a player who sits in the middle of the park while orchestrating the play with effortless graceful touch.
To this day, Andrea Pirlo remains the ultimate symbol of the profound role of playmaker, and it is no coincidence that his arrival at Juventus in 2011 coincided with the club’s rebirth under Antonio Conte.
Following the departure of the Master in 2015, Miralem Pjanic proved to be the missing piece in midfield after joining the ranks of the Old Lady in 2016.
But since the Bosnian’s decline and subsequent departure, Juventus have sorely missed a genuine Regista who could help the club launch another winning dynasty.
Last summer, the Bianconeri ended Arthur Melo’s failed experiment, replacing him with Leandro Paredes.
However, the latter is not doing much better than the current Liverpool player. So will the Argentine become Arthur 2.0?
Well, the jury is still out on Paredes’ time in Turin, but the striking resemblance between his stint as the Brazilian is evident.
exciting arrivals
In 2020, most observers believed that Fabio Paratici struck gold when he traded Pajnic’s services for the young Arthur.
Sadly, the controversial exchange turned out to be disastrous for all parties involved.
As I recall, Paredes’ arrival was also greeted with great enthusiasm among Juventus supporters (including us) who considered the Argentine to be the missing link in Max Allegri’s woeful midfield.
However, the result is far from satisfactory.
easily usurped
Except for a brief spell during Pirlo’s tenure, Arthur never had a regular starting career at Juventus.
The Brazilian had often remained on the bench, with the likes of Adrien Rabiot, Rodrigo Bentancur, Weston McKennie and later Manuel Locatelli ahead of him in the pecking order.
Following his loan switch from PSG, Paredes immediately slotted into Allegri’s first line-up, but aside from a few flashes of talent, he hardly showed the kind of performances desired by the coaching staff.
Like Arthur, Paredes found himself out, especially after Locatelli’s return from injury.
perceived superiority
Another common aspect between Arthur and Paredes is the perceived superiority over the rest of their teammates in terms of technique.
Both the Brazilian and the Argentine are considered basketball players who have excellent skills with the ball.
However, both are rejected in favor of players who don’t quite fit the mold of the typical Regista (mainly Locatelli).
injury problems
Every time Arthur threatened to break into the first line-up, an injury would occur, killing the momentum built up in the process.
While Paredes recently suffered his first knock in Turin, we can only hope it doesn’t become a recurring theme given his alarming injury record from the previous campaign.
All in all, let’s hope that Paredes’ stage comes to life in the second half of the campaign and proves to be an improvement over its Brazilian predecessor.
