Director confirms Arsenal have signed his player in 7-figure deal, Edu could’ve got him free

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Marquinhos joining Arsenal has been finalised.

The 19-year-old attacker has been linked with the Gunners for a number of weeks.

The Athletic reported in May that Arsenal had successfully signed the player from Sao Paulo, who had a £42.5 million release clause on the player.

The North Londoners are stumping up around £2.5 million for the Brazilian winger and even that was a token gesture.

Carlos Belmonte, a director at Sao Paulo, has revealed that Arsenal transfer guru Edu offered a nominal fee for a player they could’ve signed for free in order to maintain a solid relationship with the Brazilian club going forward.

He said 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 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.”

The transfer window in England officially opens on June 10 and that is the date the North Londoners could announce Marquinhos, it has been reported.

It remains to be seen what Arsenal’s short-term plan is for the player.

Long term, obviously they’re hoping that he can make an impact in the first XI and fire the Emirates Stadium outfit to domestic and European honours.

But short term, it has been suggested that Edu could loan out the youngster for the sake of getting first-team experience in Europe.

The good news is that Marquinhos joining Arsenal is done and even though they paid money for him, despite being available for free, that £2.5 million could still prove an absolute steal.