Fluminense won’t activate their option to buy for Marquinhos, and the winger is set to return to Arsenal in January, according to a report.
Journalist Uriel Iugt reports that Fluminense will not exercise the purchase option in Marquinhos’ loan contract with the club. The winger will return to the Gunners at the end of the season, at which point Arsenal will search for a new club for him.
The Brazilian season runs on a calendar-year basis, so Fluminense only have two games remaining in the current campaign. They face Cuiaba on Thursday, December 5th, then Palmeiras on Sunday, December 8th.
In other words, by the end of this week, Marquinhos’ spell with Fluminense should be over.
Fluminense’s deal included an option to buy, not an obligation, and Arsenal had added in a 50% sell-on clause for any future transfers. But it looks like that option will expire.
Things didn’t start out badly for Marquinhos with Fluminense. He went straight into their starting lineup in the league, playing all but two minutes of their first nine Serie A games following his arrival.
Even the winger’s hamstring injury in June didn’t appear to affect him too much, as he returned to the side immediately and made four starts in a row.
By the end of July, he’d made 24 appearances for the side. But unfortunately, it’s been all downhill from there.
Marquinhos suffered a second hamstring injury at the end of July, returning to fitness in late August. But this time around, he didn’t break back into the starting lineup.
Fluminense have played 17 games since Marquinhos’ recovery. He’s made the squad for 15 of them, but only featured on the pitch five times. For their game against Athletico-PR on Sunday, he didn’t even make the bench.
A return to Arsenal has looked likely for a month or so now, and this latest report suggests the official confirmation isn’t far away.
Related Posts
