Arsenal are considering recalling Marquinhos from his underwhelming loan with Nantes to either beef up their squad or find another solution.
According to Daily Mirror, Arsenal are contemplating recalling Marquinhos from his loan at Nantes and further assessing the Brazilian. The 20-year-old has struggled in Ligue 1 with far fewer minutes than expected. So, the Gunners could think about the next step for his career.
Arsenal signed promising Brazilian talent Marquinhos in the summer of 2022. And following his performances in training, Mikel Arteta chose to keep him on board. The 20-year-old made a few appearances in the Europa League and cup games while featuring off the bench in a few Premier League games.
For the sake of his development, Arteta sanctioned a loan move to Norwich City, where he was a decent performer. While there were a few teams within England keen on signing him on another temporary spell, Arsenal thought it was best to send him abroad, to France.
Folarin Balogun’s success with Reims last season may have influenced Arsenal’s decision. The striker has since made a permanent move to AS Monaco during the summer, and then the Gunners sanctioned a loan move for Marquinhos to Nantes.
The 20-year-old has not had the best of times with the French side, making only one full start for Nantes. In fact, he has played only 88 minutes of Ligue 1 action. Hence, the Gunners are not seeing any progress made by the winger and are pondering bringing him back.
There is no clarity on whether the loan agreement has a break clause. But as things are going, the two clubs could strike an accord to terminate the contract. Arsenal might also re-integrate Marquinhos into their squad to improve attacking depth and find another solution, possibly a new loan deal elsewhere.
If Artera seeks to beef up his squad with Marquinhos, then Arsenal must recall him as early as possible in January. That allows the Gunners to evaluate the 20-year-old’s levels and then make a late decision on his fate at the end of that month.
Arsenal are in the market for attacking reinforcements, with Pedro Neto one of their key targets for the wide areas. The idea of having Marquinhos back would only benefit from a depth point of view. The chances of him starting games may seem out of order, considering the quality they have on board.
For the sake of the player’s development, a recall from his loan spell makes sense. Arsenal are not likely to use him much in their team if he stays beyond January. Hence, bringing him back and then another loan or a permanent transfer would appear more of the case.
