London [UK], June 14 (ANI): Nineteen-year-old forward Marquinhos has joined Premier League club Arsenal from Sao Paulo on a long-term contract.
The young Brazilian youth international, full name Marcus Vinicius Oliveira Alencar, developed through the Sao Paulo youth system, progressing into the first-team squad and making his first-team debut as an 18-year-old last July.
Marquinhos made 33 first-team appearances during his time with Sao Paulo and was a part of the squad which won the Campeonato Paulista in 2021.
The young forward, who has represented Brazil at under-16 and under-17 levels, will travel to London from Brazil in the coming weeks to join up with his new teammates for pre-season training.
Arsenal technical director Edu said: “We’re delighted to have completed the transfer with Sao Paulo, as Marquinhos was a player we had been watching for a while. At 19, he is still very young, so he is a player for the future. We look forward to Marquinhos now joining us for pre-season, making his new home, and continuing to grow and develop with us.”
The Brazilian is a like-to-like replacement for Alexandre Lacazette who has left Arsenal to rejoin Lyon.
Since joining the Gunners from Lyon in July 2017, Laca made 206 appearances in all competitions, scoring 71 goals. The 31-year-old was Arsenal’s top scorer in two seasons during his time at the club – in 2017/18, and also in 2020/21 when he scored his 50th Premier League goal in the win over Sheffield United in April 2021.
That moved the French striker into the all-time top ten of goalscorers for the north London-based club in Premier League history – scoring his first goal just 94 seconds into his league debut, against Leicester City, in August 2017.
Laca was an FA Cup winner with Arsenal in 2020 and was also part of the FA Community Shield winning team in 2017. He was voted as the Arsenal Player of the Season for 2018/19. (ANI)