Wolverhampton Wanderers were heavily interested in a move for Brazilian starlet Marquinhos last summer, who since signed for Arsenal in a bargain £3m deal, and must rue the failure to secure the players’ signature.
According to the Express & Star, the Old Gold had a pre-contract agreement with the player and his homeland outfit Sao Paulo, before the Gunners exploited a legal loophole and clinched the ace for themselves.
The Molineux club had even allegedly had a loan move lined up with Swiss feeder club Grasshoppers, but plans were scuppered following the eventual transfer to north London.
Marquinhos failed to break into Mikel Arteta’s first team this season, making just three starts, and has recently been loaned out to Championship outfit Norwich City to earn some valuable experience for the remainder of the campaign.
Wolves will be particularly miffed when considering that the player could have been utilised in place of winger Goncalo Guedes, who only scored two goals from 18 appearances following his £27.5m summer transfer from Valencia before being loaned out last month to SL Benfica.
In the Europa League this season, as per Sofascore, the 19-year-old Marquinhos produced an average rating of 7.40, scoring a goal – which came on his debut – and registering an assist. He further starred with 1.3 shots and 1.7 key passes per game, also completing 79% of his passes and making 1.3 tackles per outing.
And in Premier League 2, the gem scored three times and provided one assist, having been “tearing it up” – in the words of Planet Football.
And despite not earning a starting shot in the Premier League this year, the teenager is clearly demonstrating a talent embedded within his footballing DNA, one that Wolves could certainly use as they battle to stave off the threat of relegation, an added dimension of sorts, capable of offering something different.
And with Guedes indeed joining his former Portuguese outfit this winter, there is little doubt that the Brazilian starlet could have occupied his role in the team and provided cover when required.
Hailed as “the Kylian Mbappe from Cotia” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, the budding talent could yet become one of Europe’s hottest commodities, with Kulig also stating the 19-year-old is “one of the fastest” footballers that he can remember witnessing in recent memory.
If Marquinhos can even reach half of the heights of the 24-year-old World Cup winner Mbappe, who has already scored 228 goals from 308 appearances at club level and 36 from just 66 outings for France, he could forge an arresting and salient name for himself, and Wolves will undoubtedly be kicking themselves for missing out on a Mbappe-esque prodigy.
While the “mobile” Marquinhos – as hailed by South American football expert Tim Vickery, is indeed largely an untested commodity in the Premier League, his skills and high ceiling could have been nurtured at Molineux, with Lopetegui – who replaced Bruno Lage as manager in November – providing the promise of greater involvement over the course of the campaign than with the Gunners, who can scarcely afford a slip as the fight for the Premier League title rages on.
With Guedes indeed now plying his trade elsewhere, Jeff Shi and co will be left with a bitter taste after failing to sign a talented young prospect for a slice of the price, and instead will now have to consider parting with even more money on another wide option to continue the resurgence under Lopetegui next season.