Marquinhos will join Nantes on loan from Arsenal for the season, with a deal reportedly set to be completed by Friday.

Kaya Kaynak of Football.London reports that Marquinhos will join Nantes on loan from Arsenal for the season, with a deal set to be completed by Friday evening.

Previous reports had suggested that Marquinhos was set to join Olympiacos on a season-long loan deal, following his short-term spell with Norwich City last season.

But late last week, the news broke that Nantes could be looking to snatch the deal away from the Greek giants.

Now, it appears the French side have completed their hijack of the transfer, and it’s just a matter of waiting for the official confirmation.

Marquinhos has been with Mikel Arteta’s squad in pre-season, most recently coming on as a substitute in the Emirates Cup game against AS Monaco.

But Fabio Vieira has generally been preferred as an alternative to Bukayo Saka on the right wing, and Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard can play backup to Gabriel Martinelli, so Marquinhos’ best chance of regular minutes is another loan.

As mentioned, the 20-year-old spent the second half of last season with Norwich City, but it was only a brief spell involving eight starts for the side.

After that loan, Marquinhos impressed at the u20 World Cup in late May, scoring once and assisting twice in his five games.

Marquinhos needs a little more consistency in his next loan, and he’ll hope Nantes can provide that.

After Folarin Balogun’s success in Ligue 1 last season and the subsequent transfer interest in him, it’s clear the league can provide a good opportunity for an Arsenal loanee.