Marquinhos Cipriano: Man City muscle in on Arsenal interest
Manchester City and Arsenal have gone all the way to South America to watch a 17-year-old, Sport Witness has learned. Their target is Marquinhos Cipriano, a youngster from São Paulo who has been impressing in youth tournaments.
Scouts from Pep Guardiola’s club have joined those from Arsene Wenger’s side who have been watching the youngster.
The striker has 28 goals in 39 appearances this year, and his records and titles in the past year have attracted interest from clubs such as Atletico Madrid and Juventus. He’s now joining the U20 squad for the first time, and will play in the Copa Internacional Ipiranga, where he’ll have many eyes on him.
The name Marquinhos Cipriano isn’t something new for Arsenal fans, as the club have been keeping tabs on him for years. We reported a few details about this chase some months ago. But now, Manchester City, under the orders of Txiki Begiristain, have also joined the race and will watch him closely.
Their idea is to find deals similar to the one they built for Gabriel Jesus’, who has joined the club in a £27m transfer from Palmeiras.
Marquinhos, who has a contract with São Paulo until September 2018, turns 18 in February. So clubs like Arsenal, who despite following the player haven’t tried to arrange a transfer, will now be able to try to take him out of Brazil.
Other sides such as Bayern Munich, Paris Saint Germain, PSV, AS Roma and Pescara have also sent scouts to the current youth tournament. Some of these sides will keep their team of officials in Brazil, as the Copa São Paulo, the biggest youth tournament in the country, starts next month.
As with any recruitment from South America, the clubs will have to make sure they can get a work permit for potential recruits, or see if they have European heritage and the matching EU passport.
