NorthEast United signs ISL Golden Boot winner Marcelinho

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Marcelinho in his previous stint as a Hyderabad player

NorthEast United has signed former Delhi Dynamos, Pune City, Hyderabad, Odisha, and ATK Mohun Bagan player Marcelinho on loan from I-League team Rajasthan United until the end of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season.

The club posted a tweet on Twitter welcoming Marcelinho and announcing that they have signed the 34-year old on a loan from the new I-League entrants.

“A golden boot winner. A magical baller. Welcome! Marcelinho.”

The Highlanders’ first signing of the winter transfer window retweeted the tweet and wrote, “Proud to be here lads.”

The former Atletico Madrid B and Getafe B forward first came to Indian shores when he joined Delhi Dynamos (now Odisha) in 2016 and won the ISL Golden Boot in his inaugural season in the league.

Also read: Odisha part ways with Kiko Ramirez and appoints Kino Garcia as the interim head coach 

Pune City snapped up the Brazilian forward ahead of the 2017-18 ISL season and the fiery forward scored 8 goals and provided 9 assists to help his team reach the playoffs where they lost to table-toppers Bengaluru.

In the 2018-19 season, the Brazilian was not as his best usual self but still managed 10 goal contributions in Pune’s last season in the league with the forward scoring 7 goals and providing 2 assists in 17 appearances for the rechristened Hyderabad in 2019-20 ISL season.

In the 2020-21 league season, Marcelinho joined Odisha but remained goalless for the Juggernauts before moving to ATK Mohun Bagan midway through the season where he scored 2 goals in 6 league appearances.

Following a tough start to the ongoing ISL season in terms of results, NorthEast United head coach Khalid Jamil saw his job getting tougher as skipper Federico Gallego was ruled out of the whole season with an injury.

To dig further into the wounds, midfield engine Khassa Camara has left for the ongoing AFCON 2022 tournament and will not be able to return for most number of matches due to the mandatory quarantine protocol.

Marcelinho is a proven replacement for Gallego and Jamil would also be looking to recruit a quality holding midfielder with Imran Khan running out of steam in the middle of the park. The Highlanders are set to face Odisha, Chennaiyin, and Mumbai City in the space of seven days and most of their overseas players would be unavailable for the fixtures if they go ahead without any disruption due to Covid-19.

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