Arsenal signed talented Brazilian youngster Marquinhos in the summer and he impressed on his full debut with a goal and an assist against FC Zurich – but Mikel Arteta could let him go out on loan
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is reportedly considering allowing Marquinhos to leave the club on loan in January.
The Brazilian right-winger, 19, was signed from Sao Paulo in the summer for a fee in the region of £3million but has rarely featured for the Gunners so far this season. He has appeared three times in Arsenal’s Europa League campaign, scoring on his club debut in the win over FC Zurich, while also making one Premier League outing as a substitute against Brentford.
With Arsenal now into the knockout rounds in Europe, Arteta is more likely to field a full-strength or stronger XI, thus limiting Marquinhos’ chances of regular action. While he is expected to be involved in their early Carabao Cup exploits – starting possibly with a role from the bench in Wednesday’s clash vs Brighton – most of the rounds will have been played by the end of January.
According to the Evening Standard, Arsenal are now weighing up letting Marquinhos move on loan elsewhere towards the end of the January window once the early Carabao Cup rounds have passed in order to boost his playing time and get valuable first-team experience. Arteta faced a similar decision in the summer but made a U-turn on sanctioning a loan move, opting instead to keep Marquinhos at close quarters while he got himself settled in the knowledge there would be opportunities for him to feature in the Europa League.