Marquinhos

[KingMessi]

Zouma knocking on the door too. A big personal satisfaction to have so many promising french CBs

Varane+Zouma+Laporte

Used to have Mangala on that list, but .

 

[DonAndres]

Eric Bailly has also caught my eye. Wasting his time with pericos though.

Had some nice showings for Espanyol this season and moved to Villarreal in January. Decent player.

Also, I agree that Varane/Marquinhos are above Laporte. Laporte's performances for Athletic have been the best in a bad situation though, can't be criticized for underwhelming. It's just that Marquinhos/Varane should be starting for their respective teams (Varane>Ramos when consistently played and on form) and could honestly be among the elite CB's in the world while Laporte is still developing. Gimenez is on better form than Laporte too but needs to play with a bit more discipline.

 

[Ursegor]

Had some nice showings for Espanyol this season and moved to Villarreal in January.

Wat? How did I miss that? Must be because of the AFCON.

 

[Bertus]

Many news about Marquinhos.

He got interviewed by L'Equipe. And then Blanc had to reply to many questions about marquinhos during the press conference before their game against monaco. And today he was interviewed in Téléfoot too.

Here all the interesting points (and there's a lot as you will see.

- First, I'm gonna apologize to our buddy BenRobbins because I have to eat my words about Marqui being linked to MU. I said it was probably BS but in fact it was true, all true, confirmed by the player himself (read below)​

About that interview in L'Equipe, here's my translation from a transcript of the original article by Culture PSG:

The confrontation against Chelsea and what he thinks about David Luiz playing DM

"As for me, I kind of liked it. It's not something new to David. He already played - and very well - in midfield when he was at Chelsea (2011-2014). I think he was very useful. Both because he was easing our defensive system but also because he was the link between the midfield and the frontline. Stricly speaking about the heart of the game, his determination, his thirst to win are also very important. Our performance was good but we must stay down to earth. We have the obligation to score there. But it's not a bad thing in the end. We know what we will have to do as opposed with last year when we were torn between attacking or defending. It's all good to go there with no garantee, with odds against us.. It's easier to motivate the team. Personally I like this kind of storyline."

About playing RB.

"I had never really played RB at top level. And never this long, since I only played one or two games in Roma as RB (so you see I was right, he never was that fabulous RB till Blanc put him on the right). Our two RBs were unavailable (wrote MIA at first but I guess not everyone knows what it means ). The coach came to me because he wanted to know if I was ok to play on the right. I said O.K. but I thought it would only be the case for a few games. Till now, it's working well. I have the feeling that it's interesting in my case, for my career, it helps me to expand my array of skills."

His rivalry with TS.

TS is our captain, our leader, and everyone respects him. Me, I am young, I learn, I listen, and I bide my time. I am not in a hurry. I go on with training till it'll be my turn. It happened in a kind of surprising turn of events (he's talking about being a regular RB) but football is like that, full of surprises."

Manchester United.

"I remained composed, and focused. I let my agent to deal with all that. A priori, PSG turned them down and refused to start negociations. They closed the door. Personally, I saw it as an act of faith. But to be honest, it made me glad to know that Manchester was interested in me. It's good for one's self-esteem."

His future.

"I am under contract till (he stops and start thinking about it for several seconds) ... 13 + 5, it means till 2018 if I'm not wrong. I am happy here in Paris. It's a top club with immense ambitions that always tries to improve. Each day that passes, I'm under the impression that that club is growing a bit more. And from a young player point of view, that's fantastic."

--------------

Ok now, here the translation of what Laurent Blanc said yesterday about him:

Q: Hello, I wanted to ask something about marquinhos. How are you dealing with his development?

Blanc: "Well, we all know Marquinhos, alright. It's a very good player. A player that has exceptional mentality, and state of mind. He's the future of PSG. When there was some... well, rumors, from our italian friends in particular (he then puts a big smile and points his finger to the italian medias in the room) who said that Marquinhos will leave PSG (talking about the last summer mercato AND this winter mercato), well, firstly we did everything to keep him here, and now we will do everything, I think, to extend his contract because we know he's a very, very good player (here he takes time to emphasize it). We snatched him from Roma's hands. We showed that we were interested in him (no shit sherlock, you don't spend 35M on someone you're not interested in. Sky is blue, sun burns. Woot. ), and now we're showing that PSG is not letting go og him anytime soon. Why? Because he's a very good player as CB, eventually very good on the right... and even very good in front of the defense in midfield. He's only 20yo and people often tend to forget that. And this boy is among the 3 parisian players that played the most this season as opposed to what the medias said, that PSG is not using him blablabla. We use him. Actually, I think he's the player who played the most so far. We have to be concious about that. His defensive skills are good. His mentality is good, and it is shown when he's not playing. He does not calculate. He just trains more to become a starter in the next game. That's an excellent state of mind. To have players like him in a team is like a dream for any coach."

Blanc: "Comparing him to TS? If he's a good defender? He's already a very, very good defender. He needs to grow. He's only 20yo. He's now part of Brazil national team. He has all it takes to become a very, very, very good player. Now if he'll be O Monstro too, that's up to the medias to name him like that or not. For now, he's a very very good player, with top level skills and his room of growth is very interesting."

Now Marquinhos interview from today in the french football TV show Téléfoot:

When asked about him satying or leaving, he replied:

"Manchester wanted me, Barcelona too. They discussed it, but my club board crushed all their hopes. It gives me great confidence. PSG's president and coach are happy with my performances. If I extend my contract here, it would be great. I am happy here. My contract's upgrade is coming along nicely."

Also, from the Daily Mail:

• - MU offered 41M euros this winter. PSG sent them home. MU is preping a 48M euros offer now.
• - That said, they said that Marquinhos to MU is nowhere near a done deal because Marquinhos is happy in Paris and said he thinks he was happy to have stayed at PSG, and when they asked questions to high ranked people from PSG, they all replied they were impressed by him.

 

[BenRobbins]

Yeah i imagine every club in the world has asked questions about his availability because he is class. Only problem is there is no chance he is going to Leave PSG! We might aswell save our time and go for Laporte or somebody else.

 

[EdmondDantes]

He's the one player I wish we had here. We should really have paid Roma whatever they wanted before the bidding war began with Chelsea, PSG, etc... It's like watching Clark Kent becoming Superman whenever I watch this lad play since I first saw him when he was just 16 in a international youth tournament.

 

[DonAK]

Thanks to Zubi and Rosell for wasting our time on Thiago Silva that summer. Had we bid then I think he would have been ours.

 

[Bertus]

Unbelievable performances from Marquinhos, Verratti and TS tonight.

While Cavani, Lavezzi and Pastore missed more than 10 "very easy" chances to score, monaco never managed to do anything because those 3 were everywhere.

Verratti is a monster in midfield. No one managed to snatch the ball from him even when they were 4 on him. TS had 0 foul, king in the air, and 98% pass success. And NO ONE managed to pass Marquinhos who was the other king in the air while doing the defensive job for two since VDW was utter crap.

PSG's CBs defense tonight, was one of the best defensive performances I've seen in Europe this season, if not the best.

If you have time, you should all watch it.

 

[Bertus]

I completely agree with French medias tonight, if Marquinhos is benched when Motta is back from injury then Blanc needs to be fired right away.

It would be a crime.

 

[anguy]

PSG's CBs defense tonight, was one of the best defensive performances I've seen in Europe this season, if not the best.

On the other hand Monaco attack has been horrible this season. They are carried by their great defense.

 

[CuleLife4Life]

I thought Motta was on his way out? Or in bad form before injury...

Any news on Marquinhos extending with PSG? At only 20, his contact would expire by the time he is only 24. And if PSG want some cash for him they could sell a year before when he'll only be 23. By then he could be getting ready to take over for Verm, Mach, or Matheiu lol.

But in all seriousness, I hope he is considering it. A few more seasons in PAris before he hits his prime isn't that bad.

 

[Bertus]

I thought Motta was on his way out? Or in bad form before injury...

Any news on Marquinhos extending with PSG? At only 20, his contact would expire by the time he is only 24. And if PSG want some cash for him they could sell a year before when he'll only be 23. By then he could be getting ready to take over for Verm, Mach, or Matheiu lol.

But in all seriousness, I hope he is considering it. A few more seasons in PAris before he hits his prime isn't that bad.

Man you make me sad, what you just asked just proves you didn't read a single word of the news I posted above.

Marquinhos himself confirmed that he's close to renew with PSG.

And Blanc said QSI will not let him go anytime soon as he's PSG future main CB for years to come.

We already got infos about his new contract:

- Increased salary (worst secret news ever )
- Current contract ends in 2018, new will extend it to 2020.
- Why 2020 and not more? Because Marqui's agent wants to get another new deal with PSG around 2018.
- Marquinhos said he'd would very, very happy when it is official.

 

[EdmondDantes]

I envy PSG for having signed, Silva, Verratti, Lucas and Marquinhos. Great display tonight.

 

[Bertus]

Yeah he was unbelievable.

All games he played so far this season with PSG as a starter: 0 defeat.

 

[Bertus]

Watching french football show right now, and they are showing how Marquinhos totally destroyed Hazard.

The latter had to run to the midfield most of the time because Marquinhos was a total wall.

Great job, kid.