This article is part of Football FanCast's In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets...

Arthur Melo joined Barcelona in the summer of 2018 and back then, the Catalans already knew they had someone special on their hands.

The now 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder was never one to bang in dozens of goals or assists but he had that Barcelona DNA in him - he was a master of passing the ball and holding possession, keeping his team in firm control at all times.

His skill and natural ability were the things that attracted the Blaugrana and it only took €31m (£26.7m) to get him from Gremio to Catalonia.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Of course, there are certain add-ons in his contract that could bump that price up a bit but all things considered, and especially given the state of the modern-day market, his transfer does look like a true steal.

And this is even truer today than it was a year ago when he joined.

Back in 2018 everyone could see there were talent and potential in the kid but despite playing 44 games across all competitions in his first season in Europe, he only managed two assists in the process and couldn't really finish the full 90 minutes of a high-paced game in Spain.

Of course, he was still secure on the ball with 93.5% passing accuracy but with only 0.5 key passes and 0.4 dribbles per game, he did little to actually tilt the big clashes in Barcelona's favour.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet's weirdest questions in the video below...

Fast forward a year, however, and Arthur is a changed man.

From a talented midfielder, he turned to a brilliant one that is slowly but surely even becoming world-class.

Now, after only nine games played across all competitions, the Brazilian can already boast with two goals and four assists to his name. Not only that but he has improved in other categories as well.

His passing accuracy is still brilliant despite a small dip with 87.8% but both key passes and dribbles have improved greatly and now stand at 1.3 and 2.7 per game respectively.

By all means, he truly seems like a reformed man and not only that but he has also played the full 90 minutes of four out of those nine games in total, showing that he has successfully adjusted to Barcelona's tempo and style of play.

Needless to say, if he can continue his development like that and keep improving, there's no telling how good the 23-year-old can actually become and the world-class bracket certainly seems within his grasp.

For the Blaugrana, this is certainly wonderful news.