Sports Weekly All-media reporter Xiaozhong reported
This summer, a pair of Brazil’s top full-backs have both expired and lost their jobs. On July 21, Barcelona’s former right-back Alves joined the Mexican Super Cougars. But until now, Marcelo has not found a good home. It is reported that if a new owner is difficult to find, the former left-back of Real Madrid may take a break for the first half of the year to take care of the business and return to the greenery early next year.
At the end of June, Marcelo’s contract with Real Madrid expired. After 15 and a half years, he bid farewell to the Bernabeu. There are still many teams interested in 34-year-old Marcelo, including Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor in the Turkish Super League, AC Milan in Serie A, Marseille in Ligue 1, Valladolid in La Liga, and Brazil. Botafogo and Fluminense and several teams in the Middle East.
But Marcelo has made it clear that, for now, he does not want to leave Europe for family reasons. His son Enzo is a striker for Real Madrid’s U13 youth team, and he plays well and has a promising future. Marcelo doesn’t want to affect his son’s future because of his football, so Brazil and the Middle East are not considered for the time being.
To choose the next home, Marcelo has another condition: the team must be able to play in the Champions League. AC Milan and Marseille both have the Champions League to play. Trabzonspor has not yet played the Champions League qualifying round. Fenerbahce lost to Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League qualifying round and had to play the Europa League qualifying round. Fenerbahce is out of the Champions League, and Marcelo has nothing to talk about.
With Marseille and Milan, Marcelo also talked, but no agreement. At Real Madrid, Marcelo earns 5.5 million euros a year. It is said that Milan promised an annual salary of 3 million euros, but he did not accept it. The collapse of the talks with Marseille was also due to the issue of annual salary. Fenerbahce can afford an annual salary of 5.5 million euros, but it has no Champions League to play.
Even if he can’t find a place this summer, Marcelo is in no rush because he has something to do. Grupo Doze (Group of 12) under his name is booming, and he will not play football for the time being, and Marcelo can be his football boss with peace of mind.
In February 2018, Marcelo co-founded the Azuriz club in the southern Brazilian state of Parana. Currently, Azuris competes in the Parana State Serie A and the Badin League. Created Azuris, Marcelo is to develop young players, sell to Europe to make money.
Marcelo bought Portuguese side Mafra in December last year. When I bought Mafra, I wanted to use it as a window and a springboard to showcase the Brazilian players that Azuris has cultivated, and then sell them to other European teams to make money. Recently, Doze Group wants to buy the Portuguese sports club Terofence, and the negotiations are going very smoothly. One owner cannot own two clubs in one league, and Doze would have to sell Mafra if they bought Terofence. Brazilian media reported that Marcelo also wanted to buy Santa Cruz, a giant club in the northeastern state of Pernambuco.
At the age of 34, Marcelo still wants to play for another two or three years before hanging up his boots. In fact, after leaving Real Madrid, he has been trying to find a next home. However, because the Doze Group under his name has invested in many teams, even if there is no ball to play for the time being, Marcelo has something to do. Therefore, this summer can no longer be employed, and Marcelo is not too anxious. Rest for the first half of the year, take care of the business, and if there is a chance early next year, he will return to the greenery.