After a disappointing end to last season, Arsenal has gone out and made the first signing to start the summer transfer window! Arsenal has agreed to sign 19-year-old Brazilian forward Marquinhos from Sao Paolo to a long-term contract. Have I heard of him before? No. Does he fill a particular need? Maybe? After watching a 10 minute Youtube compilation of him, am I ready to delcare his stardom in the Premier League? Hell fucking yeah. Where Arsenal are in our rebuild and with the Europa League next year, I believe it does make sense for us to invest in young talent across Europe and South America if available at the right price and it looks like this is where Marquinhos fills with a reported £3m transfer fee.
PLAYER PROFILE: Marquinhos profiles as a left-footed winger who seems to be most comfortable coming in off the right just like the two left-footed RWs we have in the squad now: Pépé and Saka. He is reported to be around 5’7″ which is much shorter than I prefer but he has a stocky and stout build that more than makes up for what he lacks in natural height.
Here you can see him comfortably fighting off defenders by using his body and footwork to escape their grasp. Everytime Marquinhos receives the ball with space to run at defenders, he seems to relish those opportunities to take them to the cleaners which is an attribute that was lacking massively for Arsenal last season. Martinelli and Saka took players on but it came rarely and only if they had momentum on their side to get past players. Marquinhos in the very little I have seen has the acceleration or let’s say desire to get past defenders at a stand-still position which is a skill I admire very much as shown below:
As is common with most successful left-footed RWs, is the ability to wrap their foot around the ball to score goals and the jury is still out there on that to his game. All in all, there is a flair that pops out from the screen when watching him play. He does seem to enjoy luring defenders in for a tackle and poking the ball with his left-boot around defenders. Whether he can get away with that in the Premier League and Europa League, we will see. I haven’t seen much of Marquinhos combining with teammates which is a requirement in a possession-laden Arteta side but I don’t see that being an issue with the technical ability he possesses. The natural fluidity he has allows him to be aware with not only the defenders he is going up against but also his teammates in the flicks and touches he makes to them which is something Ødegaard and Saka enjoyed doing at times.
SQUAD OUTLOOK WITH MARQUINHOS: I will come out and say this before the season starts if Arsenal fails like they always do, IT WILL NOT BE BECAUSE OF MARQUINHOS. Marquinhos is no doubt an investment that Arsenal was willing to take a chance on for the reported £3m fee. There is a very good chance that he even goes off on loan if Arteta does not see space for him in the squad. As someone who loves to loaning off Arsenal players that we could more than use (William Saliba) who knows if Arteta would make the right decision with Marquinhos. Marquinhos is so clearly an Edu signing which means there is going to be a lack of inherent loyalty that Arteta will have towards Marquinhos which will be interesting to see how it plays out. Unfortunately for Marquinhos, his best position at RW is filled with Saka who has that position locked up which means playing time in the league games will come at a premium for the young Brazilian. Pépé is still at the club which is another obstacle that Marquinhos would have to overcome if he can’t play through the middle or off the left flank. I have no expectations for Marquinhos, if he succeeds at the club, great, if not, then our investment in the player makes it to where we aren’t hindered by his lack of production (Nico Pépé). Marquinhos should get enough playing time with the Europa League group stage games as well as the cup games if Arteta lets him stay with the squad.