Barcelona have confirmed that they will sign Marlon Santos on a permanent basis and are set to trigger the clause to hand the player a three-year deal.
Barcelona have confirmed, through their social media handles, and on their official website that they are set to make the loan move of Marlon Santos a permanent deal. The Brazilian defender has been informed that the club will be triggering the clause in his deal, which will see him pen a three-year contract at Nou Camp.
Marlon Santos to continue at FC Barcelona. All the details ? https://t.co/aykPtlkOEO #FCBlive pic.twitter.com/G8Qytd8Kvc
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) June 14, 2017
Marlon Santos arrived at Barcelona on a loan deal from Fluminese – one that included an option to make the deal permanent, something Barcelona are now set to opt for. The Brazilian slotted straight into Barcelona B’s starting eleven and impressed from the beginning.
The 21-year-old made a total of 24 appearances for Gerard Lopez’s side and was a standout player in majority of the games. His performances led to him being called up to the first team, with Luis Enrique reeling with lack of depth and injuries to the defensive options.
Marlon was handed his Barcelona debut in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage match against Celtic after being on the bench in the loss to Manchester City. The 21-year-old helped Barcelona to keep a clean sheet against Celtic and his performance saw him stamp his place in the manager’s plans.
Subsequently, the player was chosen to start to fill the void left by the unavailability of Gerard Pique, and the defender played every minute of Barcelona’s final 180 minutes of their La Liga campaign.
There were rumours from January itself that Barcelona will indeed take up the option to make the deal permanent, which will see the Blaugrana confirm the signing in a €5 million deal. And, the Catalan giants have now confirmed that they have taken up the option.
Samuel Umtiti has grown into the first-team setup. However, with Javier Mascherano tipped to leave the club in the summer, along with Jeremy Mathieu, Marlon Santos will likely have a role to play in the first-team under the tutelage of new manager, Erneste Valverde.
If Barca B qualify to Segunda A, then Marlon Santos will play for both B team & first team. Otherwise, he’ll get promoted to first team.[MD]
— Barça News Forum (@BarcaNewsForum) June 14, 2017
There are positive signs early on in Marlon’s Barcelona career and the Catalans will hope the 21-year-old becomes another one of the many successful captures from Latin America.
