Napoli today beat off stiff competition to land Brazilian teenager Alencar Marquinhos. The young starlet already has Brazilian top division experience having featured for Sao Paulo both last season and also at the start of this season. He is highly rated in his native brazil and can play in that number 10 role supporting the main striker.

“When these new players come available, its a lottery with at times 30-40 clubs all chasing the signature. We’ve been patient with new players over the summer and waited for the right ones before we bid, but even then you only have a small percentage chance of securing the player. I’m delighted to bag Marquinhos, He is already making the right noises in Brazil at a big club, getting minutes on the pitch and has the perfect profile to improve and become a big player. Like with any young player, the potential is there, however that potential brings no guarantee’s. He has only just turned 18 a couple of months ago, and this season in particular in Brazil will go a long way in seeing if he is the latest breakthrough star for the South American’s. Here at Napoli, we let a few of our star youngsters go over the close season, to aid us in bringing some players who could impact the first team this season. It was always our intention to monitor the market this season, to see who came in and filled the void their exits created. Marquinhos fits that profile, and joins the likes of Clarkson, Arriagada, Burch, Mitoglou, Khadra and Joseph as prospects we believe will improve to the levels which has them impacting our first team squad. Its been the best transfer window we’ve had since I arrived, with us securing players for now and the future, which has ultimately seen us start the season in excellent form with 2 wins from 2”