According to the Brazilian publication GE Globo, Marquinhos (remember him?) is close to joining Cruzeiro on loan for the rest of the year.
The winger, 21, spent the last 12 months with Fluminense but they have turned down the opportunity to sign him permanently.
Marquinhos had initially been a mainstay in the team under Fernando Diniz but he fell out of favour in the second half of the year when Mano Menezes took over. A hamstring problem didn’t help his cause. In total, he made 36 appearances, scoring twice and making three assists.
Having briefly juggled his role at Fluminense with a stint as interim Brazil coach, Diniz is now in charge at Cruzeiro and open to a reunion with the Arsenal man.
Marquinhos joined the Gunners from Sao Paulo in the summer of 2022 and was viewed as a bit of a punt by Sporting Director Edu. After scoring and assisting on his debut in the Europa League against Zurich, it looked like we might be onto something but that was as good as it got.
Six-month loan spells with Norwich and Nantes were pretty underwhelming but he was still selected by Brazil as they looked to qualify for the Olympics – a tournament he hoped would provide a springboard for his career. Unfortunately, his country fluffed their lines, losing out on a spot in Paris to Argentina.
It’s pretty clear at this point that Marquinhos’ future does not lie at Arsenal so the main interest is whether or not we’ll recoup any of the £3.5 million fee we paid a couple of years back. Hopefully, Cruzeiro give him an opportunity to show what he can do. He’s still very young.
For every 5 that look promising only 1 will come through and succeed. Move him on, he’d fit better at a mid table club like Brentford, Sp**s or United.
You shouldn’t wish those clubs on anyone.
Everybody is shit when they go to Utd
I’m not sure plucking kids out of South America to be sent to Norwich on loan is a great way of developing these lads.
I think back to Wellington Silva, Joel Campbell and now Marquinhos.
I feel like the price and the impetus was right with Marquinhos. But couldn’t we just have loaned him back to Sao Paolo for a few seasons?
I dunno. Maybe these players just aren’t good enough. But I’m not sure farming them from one loan to another is a great way for a player to develop.
Largely it’s European clubs taking advantage of the financial situation Brazilian (and very increasingly) Argentinian clubs find themselves in, taking their talent for pennies and hoping it works out in the favor of the monied giants. Many of the south American teams are falling behind even the MLS in terms of development due to lack of investment funds, meaning they need to sell these players earlier and for less money than they did even 15 years ago when players like Neymar were moving for bigger fees.
That’s a real shame. Especially from two of the most prolific footballing countries. I just feel for these lads who are taken away from their families and homeland at 16 and expected to perform for any number of random European clubs. And if they don’t, they wash back up in South America for a worse club than where they started. I suppose it makes financial sense. You lose £5m or £10m on Wellington, Joel Campbell and Marquinhos respectively. But you make £100m on Martinelli. You only need one in ten to bang to make it worthwhile. It’s just sad for… Read more »
Tbf at least he’s returning to Brazil as a (likely) millionaire – career might have stalled but he’s financially set for life
Yes, really ironic for kids from countries with such strong familial structures to end up so far from their families, in completely foreign and often unpleasant environments where they don’t speak the language, and (especially at smaller clubs, probably not so much at Arsenal) they’re often expected to assimilate asap rather than appreciated for the uniqueness of their cultures and the diversity they bring. The Spanish system where you have Barcelona B and so on makes a lot more sense to me, that way the player at least has a stable home base and his parent club can look after… Read more »
Applies even to the obviously really good ones. Endrick has cost what like €60m and plays the odd match for Real Madrid, breaking lots of fancy youngest Brazilian records but ultimately not developing anywhere near as much as if he’d had a few more years at Palmeiras or joined a mid table La Liga club. Eventually he’ll get a loan spell at that sort of level and probably thrive but you can’t tell me the current situation is the best thing for the player, especially when exactly the same thing can be said of Arda Guler at the same club.… Read more »
Of course, what you’re saying about Endrick applies to an earlier boy wonder at Madrid, only this one from the European football periphery rather than Latin America. Martin something.
Utrecht is a lovely place, I’ll hear no word against it. Particularly loved its 112.32 metre high Dom Tower and Roman archaeology. You don’t get that in Bahia.
I guess if he knocked our socks off, he wouldn’t have been loaned out at all, a la Martinelli, but I agree. Someone presumably already a bit discombobulated, coming from a totally different climate, culture, etc., then constantly moving to new circumstances where the clubs aren’t really invested in your development? Making it through that successfully would show you’ve got some mental toughness, I guess.
Boehly will sign him
Was always so funny watching him play because usually young (and especially Brazilian) wingers are impetuous and can’t hold back from trying to beat their man. Whereas literally every time Marquinhos got the ball he’d front them up and then pass it back to his full-back. At first I was like “damn this kid is mature and understands game management” and then after a while it was “I’m not sure this kid can beat a man”. The only thing I can think is that either he did it under instruction from Arteta, or that this was the trait that made… Read more »
Do you mean Martinelli didn’t try to beat a man and decided to keep control around the 80 minute mark when we were ahead by two goals? If only we still had Nuno Tavares (actually, I think we still do).
It’s a swing and a miss by the club. I don’t want to be too harsh, but 21 isn’t young for a winger. By that age if you haven’t cracked it, especially in a sub elite league, it’s probably because the minerals just aren’t there. It’s ok. It’s a normal part of life for a football club to have a few guys like this. If you’re going to miss, miss in this price range, punch a lotto ticket, maybe you can cash it, maybe you have to buy a few more before you hit. I have no issues with it… Read more »