Norwich City have completed the loan signing of Arsenal winger Marquinhos for the rest of this season.
The 19-year-old Brazilian will wear the number 13 shirt and be reunited with his former Sao Paulo teammate Gabriel Sara, who he played alongside until last summer when both men moved to England.
Marquinhos was used sparingly by Mikel Arteta in the first half of the season, making six first-team appearances including a goal on his debut away to FC Zurich.
Norwich have been looking for a wide attacking option since the summer; A pursuit accelerated by the return of Aston Villa loanee Aaron Ramsey due to knee surgery. Todd Cantwell also secured a permanent move to Rangers last week, while it remains likely that Daniel Sinani will leave this month if a deal is struck.
The Luxembourg forward, who is out of contract in July and unlikely to stay at Norwich, is a Championship deadline.
A left-footed winger usually deployed on the right, Marquinhos’ direct competition will be Kieran Dowell, who played from the side in David Wagner’s first two league games as Norwich head coach – scoring three goals and assisting a fourth .
“Marquinhos is a young and exciting wide player who wants to learn and continue his development,” said Wagner. “I would like to thank Arsenal for their confidence in allowing this deal to happen, and Stuart (Webber, sporting director) for getting everything sorted out so quickly.”
Marquinhos is Wagner’s first signing and is likely to be his only signing this month, with Norwich’s parachute payments already accounted for.
However, Wagner will also have Christos Tzolis to call on for the rest of the campaign after his season-long loan at Dutch side FC Twente came to an end.
The 21-year-old joined from PAOK for almost £9m in August 2021, hoping to establish himself as a Premier League player. However, he failed to convince either Daniel Farke or Dean Smith he was ready and was expected to spend Norwich’s Championship campaign in the Netherlands.
The left-sided forward scored three goals in 15 appearances for Twente, before the loan deal was completed by mutual agreement between the two clubs.
Tzolis returns to a Norwich squad now managed by David Wagner and still hopeful of promotion – although that will most likely be via the play-offs, with Norwich sixth in the Championship but 15 points behind the automatic promotion spots.
(Photo: Getty Images)
