Exclusive: Marlon Santos signs five-year deal with Barcelona

Exclusive: Marlon Santos signs five-year deal with Barcelona

Barça executed their right to sign the player and he signed a contract in December

By all purposes, Marlon Santos is a Barcelona player. As SPORT confirmed via sources close to the players and to Fluminense in December, the Catalan club decided to execute their option to sign the centre-back, who began the season on loan with Barça B.

The 21-year-old defender had a fixed price written into that loan deal of six million euros. As SPORT exclusively revealed, Barça's intention was to finalise the transfer before 2016 to avoid having to pay an additional two million euros in the case that he played five first team games before the deal was complete.

And that ocurred. In December, Globoesporte.com informed that Barça had made a payment of 1.5 million euros to Fluminense. The rest, 500,000 euros, will be paid in June, when the current season ends. Barcelona only have to pay two million euros because in 2015 they paid Flu 3.2 million euros for the first option on Gerson (who ended up at Roma), 400.000 euros more for Kenedy (who's now at Chelsea and loaned out to Watford) and 400,000 for Marlon.

With the deal done with Flu in December, the player signed a five-year deal with Barcelona, which the club -- for some unknown reason -- have still not revealed. That day Marlon was accompanied by his father and his agent. Marlon will continue with Barça B and will train with the first team as and when. Next season he should be with the first team. 

BARCELONA'S VERSION 

The version from the Blaugrana is different to the one from the player's representatives and also from sources close to Fluminense. Barça suggest their payment was made as a token of their desire to close the option to purchase in the summer.