In the past week, we’ve covered the Brazilian media being quite confident regarding Marquinhos’ transfer from São Paulo to Arsenal.
Following many reports claiming the Gunners’ bid was accepted, journalist Jorge Nicola came up yesterday quoting an official who guaranteed the move is happening.
So on Wednesday evening, São Paulo president Julio Casares was interviewed by Sportv. He was asked about sales, and Marquinhos’ move was mentioned as well.
The official confirmed that the winger is leaving the club due to a contract issue, even though he did not confirm the destination.
“He didn’t want to stay, we tried everything. Even before the game against Racing, where he blew up, he didn’t want to stay. It was a contractual issue, that he had this condition,” Casares told Sportv.
Sportv are a Globo channel, and on their website, Globo Esporte claims that Marquinhos is moving to Arsenal for around €3.5m
They point out São Paulo had to ‘accelerate’ his sale.
That’s because FIFA won’t acknowledge the five-year deal he signed when he was underage. Since he could only agree a three-year contract, he’s set to become a free agent this summer, so the club chose to accept the Gunners’ offer instead of losing him for nothing.
