Arsenal have dropped hint suggesting ‘exceptional’ 19-year-old could make debut today

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Marquinhos was Arsenal’s first signing of the summer, joining the Gunners from Sao Paulo for a reported £3million fee.

The 19-year-old arrived at the Emirates Stadium with a fair bit of senior experience.

Marquinhos made his first-team debut for Sao Paulo last year en route to 41 appearances.

He registered four goals and three assists, and was also part of the squad who won the Campeonato Paulista in 2021.

Marquinhos joined Arsenal as one for the future and wasn’t expected to be thrown in at the deep end.

However, he has certainly been impressing Arteta in training, not to mention a superb return of three goals from three Premier League 2 games.

Last week, the Gunners boss said, as per Arsenal.com: “I’m very happy with him. He has adapted very well and he’s a really likeable figure in the dressing room and around Colney.

“His language is not great yet but I think his physicality has been pretty exceptional. For someone who has come from Brazil and has a different way to train and play, but he’s done it.

“I think he’s got the qualities for how we want to play.

“We will keep him here for another few months and make sure that he establishes himself at the club and in the team.

“Afterwards, we’ll see what the best movement is for his career.”

Could Marquinhos replace Pepe in Arsenal squad?

On Friday, Arsenal may well have dropped a hint suggesting Marquinhos could make Saturday’s matchday squad against Fulham – and potentially even his debut.

The Arsenal Academy Twitter page shared their team news for the PL2 meeting with Brighton. And Marquinhos wasn’t in the squad.

Nicolas Pepe has gone to Nice, so a spot has opened up in Arsenal’s matchday squad.

And Marquinhos could well be the player to take that spot – we’ll find out at around 4:30pm BST today.