Marlon Santos da Silva Barbosa (born 7 September 1995), known as Marlon or Marlon Santos, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Monza, on loan from Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk.
![]() | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2022) |
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Marlon Santos da Silva Barbosa[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1995-09-07) 7 September 1995 (age 27) | ||
Place of birth | Duque de Caxias, Brazil | ||
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Monza (on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk) | ||
Number | 4 | ||
Youth career | |||
2009–2014 | Fluminense | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2013–2017 | Fluminense | 62 | (0) |
2016–2017 | → Barcelona B (loan) | 22 | (0) |
2016–2017 | → Barcelona (loan) | 2 | (0) |
2017–2018 | Barcelona | 0 | (0) |
2017–2018 | → Nice (loan) | 23 | (0) |
2018–2021 | Sassuolo | 65 | (1) |
2021– | Shakhtar Donetsk | 12 | (0) |
2022– | → Monza (loan) | 9 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2015 | Brazil U20 | 12 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 November 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 July 2015 |
Marlon joined the Fluminense academy at the age of 14;[3] after progressing through the youth ranks, in 2014 he made his debut for Fluminense at the age of 18, in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, versus São Paulo in a 5–2 victory.[4] Marlon ended his first season with 20 league appearances, and played twice in the Copa Sudamericana.[3]
Having missed the first part of the 2015 season due to international duty with Brazil U20, Marlon returned for the second half where he played as a starter for Fluminense.[3] He played 24 games in the league.[3]
On 8 June 2016, Marlon signed for Barcelona on a season-long loan.[5] He played as a starter for their B team, helping them gain promotion from the Segunda División B (third division) to the Segunda División (second division) with 27 appearances between the regular season and the promotion play-offs.[3]
Marlon made his debut for the first team on 23 November 2016, in a Champions League group stage game against Celtic, coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute for Gerard Piqué.[6] Marlon's La Liga debut came against Las Palmas on 14 May 2017.[3] After impressing on loan, Barcelona activated Marlon's loan clause from Fluminense for €5 million on a four-year contract.[7]
In August 2017, Nice signed Marlon on loan.[8] He made his debut in Ligue 1 against Monaco in a 4–0 win,[9] and played a total of 23 league games.[3] Marlon's loan ended early at the end of the 2017–18 season as manager Patrick Vieira announced that Marlon would no longer form part of his squad.[10]
On 16 August 2018, Marlon signed for Serie A club Sassuolo for an initial fee of €6 million with a buy-back clause in Barcelona's favour.[11] Upon 50 games played Sassuolo would owe Barcelona another €6 million.[12] Marlon made his debut on matchday 2 against Cagliari; he was sent out for a second yellow card in added time.[3] Nevertheless, he impressed head coach Roberto De Zerbi who fielded him for 15 consecutive games as a starter without subbing him off.[3] He made 18 appearances in the 2018–19 Serie A season, scoring once against Bologna on 28 October.[3]
The following two seasons (2019–20 and 2020–21), Marlon played 47 total games in the league.[3]
On 22 June 2021, Shakhtar Donetsk announced the signing of Marlon on a five-year contract,[13] where he reunited with former Sassuolo coach De Zerbi.[3] He played 12 league games, and helped Shakhtar win the 2021 Ukrainian Super Cup.[3]
On 5 August 2022, Marlon returned to Serie A, signing for newly-promoted side Monza for one year.[14] He made his debut on 8 August, in a 3–2 Coppa Italia win against Frosinone.[15]
Marlon represented Brazil internationally at the under-20 level at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, helping his side reach the final which they lost after extra time against Serbia.[3] He also played at the 2015 South American U-20 Championship.[3]
Marlon is a centre-back who can play in a back three, either on the left or the right.[3] He is known for his physicality, stamina and heading, and can set up the game from the back with his passing.[3] Serhiy Palkin, CEO of Shakhtar, defined Marlon as "one of the best defenders in Europe technically".[3]
Marlon and his girlfriend Maria have two sons, Pedro and João Miguel Santos.[3]
Club | Season | League | League | State league | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | League cup[lower-alpha 2] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
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Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Fluminense | 2014 | Série A | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | |||
2015 | Série A | 24 | 0 | 10[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 40 | 0 | ||||
2016 | Série A | 1 | 0 | 7[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | — | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||||
Total | 45 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 0 | ||
Barcelona B (loan) | 2016–17 | Segunda División | 22 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 27 | 0 | |||
Barcelona (loan) | 2016–17 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 6] | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
Nice (loan) | 2017–18 | Ligue 1 | 23 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 7] | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | ||
Sassuolo | 2018–19 | Serie A | 18 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 1 | ||||
2019–20 | Serie A | 23 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 23 | 0 | |||||
2020–21 | Serie A | 24 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 25 | 0 | |||||
Total | 65 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 1 | ||
Shakhtar Donetsk | 2021–22 | Ukrainian Premier League | 12 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 9[lower-alpha 6] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 8] | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
Monza (loan) | 2022–23 | Serie A | 9 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
Career total | 178 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 225 | 1 |
Fluminense
Barcelona
Shakhtar Donetsk
Brazil U20
A.C. Monza – current squad | |
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