Fluminense, the reigning champion of the Copa Libertadores, announced on Thursday the signing of Brazilian forward Marcus Vinicius Oliveira Alencar, known as 'Marquinhos', a 20-year-old prospect loaned from English club Arsenal, as their new reinforcement until December 2024.

The Rio de Janeiro-based club revealed on their social media channels that they reached an agreement with Arsenal, who retains the player's federative rights, for Marquinhos to return to Brazil on loan to 'Flu', with an option to buy at the end of the year.

The forward, who emerged from São Paulo's academy, was signed by Arsenal in June 2022 but did not play for the English club as he was initially loaned to Norwich and then to French side Nantes.

Marquinhos has been called up to various Brazilian youth national teams.

He won the gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago with the U-23 squad and was part of the team that competed in this month's South American Pre-Olympic tournament in Venezuela, failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

In Venezuela, he shared the dressing room with John Kennedy and Alexsander, two revelations from Fluminense, and with Endrick, the Palmeiras forward already secured by Real Madrid.

"I am very happy. It is a huge opportunity in my career to represent Fluminense. I am very content and hope we can create a beautiful story with many titles and victories," said Marquinhos in statements to the club's official media.

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He added that his goal is to win as many titles as possible with Fluminense, with the top priority being the Libertadores back-to-back championship.

Marquinhos is the eighth reinforcement for Fluminense in 2024, joining the likes of Uruguayan forward David Terans, Colombian right-back Jan Lacumí, and Brazilian midfielder Douglas Costa, who played in the 2018 World Cup with Brazil and has had stints at clubs like Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayern Munich, and Juventus.