04 January 2024 , 16:18
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Arsenal are now expected to recall winger Marquinhos from his loan spell with Nantes.
The Gunners have held formal discussions with the French club over a premature termination of the deal which was initially due to run until the end of the current season.
Marquinhos joined Arsenal for a fee in the region of £3million from Sao Paulo in the summer of 2022 but so far, he has only mustered six first-team appearances in north London.
The 20-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Norwich City before heading to Ligue 1 with Nantes in August during the summer window. But the move has been particularly underwhelming as the Brazilian has only played 149 minutes of action across The Channel.
He missed six top-flight matches during October and November after he was granted permission to participate in the Pan Olympic Games. Now Marquinhos is understood to have disclosed to Nantes that he wants to feature for Brazil U23 at the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament that begins later this month.
Nantes are not best pleased, although they are set to strengthen their attacking options with the loan arrivals of Sheffield United winger Benie Traore and Lyon's Tino Kadewere - meaning minutes could remain limited for Marquinhos if he was to stay put.
Agitated Nantes boss Jocelyn Gourvennec said earlier this week: “We will still be faced with the problem of Marquinhos, which is a problem. He is a player who already left for a month in October, who came back injured, who now wants to play a new preparatory tournament for the Olympics, who wants to play in the Games.
"We understand it but it clashes with our imperatives. We understand that he wants to go and we have the right to refuse. We can let him go there and we lose him. But if we prevent him from doing so we still lose him. It’s a sh**** situation."
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Marquinhos has only played six times for Arsenal's first-team (Getty Images)Marquinhos has not been short of suitors in the past and he was previously close to joining Olympiacos on loan from Arsenal before his switch to Nantes.
The likelihood is that he'll now be recalled before heading back on loan elsewhere for the second half of the campaign following the club-to-club discussions.
Italian clubs Bologna, Empoli and Frosinone were also among those to enquire about the player's availability in the summer while he was also briefly mentioned during negotiations between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest for Nuno Tavares.