Arsenal loanee playing surprise new position for Brazilian club | OneFootball

Arsenal loanee Marquinhos is playing in an unexpected new position for Fluminense, getting a run of games in recent weeks.

Fluminense’s forward Marquinhos celebrates after scoring during the Copa Libertadores group stage first leg football match between Brazil’s Fluminense and Chile’s Colo Colo at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 9, 2024. (Photo by PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images)

Arsenal 21-year-old Marquinhos joined Fluminense in February, signing a loan deal lasting until the end of the calendar year.

The Brazilian club have an option to buy at the end of their season, so the player’s involvement between now and December will likely determine his future with them.

On that note, it’s been encouraging to see Marquinhos featuring so regularly so far.

Following a relatively slow start in February and March, the winger is now on a run of 11 consecutive starts in all competitions, with four goal contributions in those games.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL: Germán Cano of Fluminense celebrates with Marquinhos of Fluminense after scoring the team’s second goal during the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2024 group A match between Fluminense and Colo-Colo at Maracana Stadium on April 09, 2024. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Yet Marquinhos hasn’t always operated as a winger. Instead, the Arsenal loanee has recently been used at right-back, with his last three starts coming in the new position.

It seems to have worked relatively well, with Fluminense keeping clean sheets in two of the three matches, and Marquinhos providing an assist in the third.

The decision has also created an amusing scenario where Fluminense’s starting full-backs are legendary ex-Real Madrid star Marcelo and a young Arsenal winger.

Marquinhos with Fluminense (Photo via Marquinhos on Instagram)

Whether Marquinhos’ run at right-back will be a permanent fixture in the Fluminense side remains to be seen, but there’s certainly no sign that manager Fernando Diniz is regretting the switch so far.

“You have to take into account that in almost all of Diniz’s choices, when faced with two options, the normal thing is for him to make the bolder, more offensive choice,” Brazilian pundit Carlos Eduardo Mansur told Globo Esporte.

“[Marquinhos at full-back] is not something that goes against what the players expect from him. I think the group, the squad, is not surprised by the choice.

“Fluminense tries a lot to play out from the back, and sometimes when it manages to overcome the opponent’s pressure, it needs fast players to accelerate out of that pressure…Marquinhos can be very useful in this.

“He may not be as good a scorer as a full-back, but he can do other things that will contribute to the team.”

Marquinhos with Fluminense (Photo via Marquinhos on Instagram)

Arsenal have negotiated a massive 50% sell-on clause into Marquinhos’ deal with Fluminense, should the Brazilian club choose to buy the Gunners loanee this winter.