With Arsenal signing Marquinhos from São Paulo for only €3.5m right before the end of his contract, it’s obvious that the Gunners took advantage of the situation to get the youngster in a bargain deal.
It now turns out that the Brazilian club don’t have any hard feelings with the London side, and moreover, this deal could actually be a door for a future partnership between them.
This revelation was made by club director Carlos Belmonte. He claimed that with Arsenal paying a fee instead of waiting for the player leaving for free, the Gunners could now have advantages in their relationship with São Paulo. And that’s something wanted by club chief Edu Gaspar.
“The one who brought the Arsenal business to us was [agent] Bruno Paiva. Bruno Paiva was important, because he brought us closer to Arsenal when we already thought Marquinhos was lost,” Belmonte told Canal do Arnaldo e Tironi (via Gazeta Esportiva).
“We have a spectacular relationship with Edu Gaspar, who told us that he knew that Marquinhos could leave for free, but that he was still going to look for funds to pay for São Paulo, because he wants to have a relationship with São Paulo similar to the one that Ajax has with us.
“He [Edu Gaspar] wants to be closer to eventually be able to bring younger players from São Paulo to Arsenal. We are even studying the possibility of exchanging our base with their base.”
By referring to Ajax, Belmonte is speaking of the deals for David Neres and Antony, which were two big transfers easily concluded by the good relationship between the clubs. São Paulo are one of the sides with the best academies in Brazil, and Arsenal could certainly benefit from it.
