Roma Have the Market Cornered on Marquinho(s)

Before you say anything, I know that is not him, but there were no available photos of the actual Marquinhos in our database. So please enjoy Marquinho in the singular form.

For those of you keeping score at home, or just not familiar with the Roman roster, we now have a Marquinho and a Marquinhos. Though it won't be official until Monday (at the earliest), it appears Roma have signed Marcos Aoas Correa, a.k.a. Marquinhos from Brazilian heavy weights Corinthians. The signing comes with an initial €1.5M loan fee with a further €3.5M mandatory buyout due at the end of the season, with the player eventually signing a five year deal with the club. Note: other sources say the total deal is for €6M, though nothing is official at this point anyway.

To say this signing was based purely on potential would be an understatement. Marquinhos, all of 18 years old, has only 6 appearances with his previous club, Corinthians. Marquinhos, a central defender and former captain of Brazil's U-17 squad, stands a shade under 6 feet tall and is well renowned for his versatility and composure, particularly for a player his age. So while you can argue this signing was purely speculative, the potential is enormous, as he is considered one of Brazil's brightest defensive prospects.

CDT is rolling out a position-by-position season preview next week, so we'll have more to say about our newest defender then, but when added with Romagnoli, Roma have two young central defenders with enormous confidence and massive potential.

In due time, Roma's weakness could be its strength.