• The Girondins de Bordeaux travel to Reims this Sunday (3 p.m.) for an important match in the fight to maintain.

  • The four winter recruits will travel to Champagne (Marcelo, Guilavogui, Ignatenko and Ahmedhodzic).

  • The Brazilian defender has been recruited to become one of the leaders of the new Bordeaux locker room.

A clone.

This is what the Girondins de Bordeaux hope to do with the Brazilian Marcelo, who arrived this winter from OL.

But from whom?

From José Fonte, the defender and captain of Losc for several seasons.

A real locker room leader that the current Bordeaux management had brought to the North in 2018. Since then, with him, the Mastiffs have returned to the Champions League before winning their fourth French championship title last season.

Of course, all this is not only thanks to the Portuguese, but we have the right to think that he has something to do with it.

And not just a little.

José Fonte is the kind of indispensable player in a team who puts everyone in their place when the boat rocks.

You should have seen him last December at Matmut Atlantique attacking Burak Yilmaz with words and gestures or even recently in Brest against Renato Sanches, while his two teammates were warming up with the referee of the meeting.

And in the end not one flinched against the charismatic Lille captain.

In Bordeaux, it's been a long time since we've seen this kind of scene, even if Benoit Costil has never escaped his role as leader unlike others.

But his goalkeeper position has always limited his influence somewhat.

We must rather go back to Marc Planus or even Carlos Henrique to find traces of this kind of leader.

“This winter's recruits are not just a technical question,

recognizes Admar Lopes, the technical director of Marine et Blanc.

We also wanted players with character!

So can Marcelo take on the role of José Fonte at the Girondins?

OL, an episode already digested

Above all, the Brazilian will have to do better than his predecessor, Laurent Koscielny.

The former French international has never managed to put on this costume this season between injuries and tensions with his management which ended up putting him out of play. This one does not only want a leader by example , she wants a leader on and off the pitch.

A real.

“Everyone knows Marcelo, he has a very strong character.

He is a natural leader.

He ticked all the boxes: technique, state of mind, experience, he knows L1, he speaks the language… In short, he put himself on our list himself.

We hope he will bring us all that, ”explains Admar Lopes.

Mercato Bordeaux: Why this new (big) winter sweep at the Girondins?

https://t.co/kX9kw65OMA via @20minutesBord pic.twitter.com/iZ5C0pDYzk

– 20minutesbordeaux (@20minutesbord) February 2, 2022

The Girondins also recover a vengeful player after four months in the closet at OL.

“A difficult moment” admits Marcelo who returned “a few years back when he was young” during this period.

“He took this period with philosophy, explains Leonardo Scheinkman, his image agent.

When you have a whole career behind you, it helps you to have perspective.

Today, this story is already in the past for a Brazilian “happy to find a club that trusts him because it is the key in football.

»

The challenge rather than the ease

Anyway, there is no doubt about the motivation of the 34-year-old defender according to a member of the Les Gones reserve team:

“He has brought all his professionalism to the group over the past few months with us.

He helped the little ones, advised them on lots of details such as nutrition.

He was very square and frankly, it's to his credit given the context around him.

»

Marcelo did not make his star.

Yes, he is able to derail off the field like in Lyon, but on the green rectangle, it is very rare.

Very few are those who question his professionalism.

"I'm not here to laugh, I'm here to work," recalled the main interested party during his presentation.

His choice to join Bordeaux is moreover in the image of the man.

The challenge rather than the ease.

Asked by Turkish, Brazilian or even American clubs, he decided to sign six months (plus an optional year) with the 17th in Ligue 1. And even if it means disembarking for the moment without a wife and children on a personal level since the little ones have to finish their school year.

So yes, there is the living environment, "we are not far from the ocean, it is always important for us Brazilians (smiles) and good wine", laughs Leonardo Scheinkman, but that denotes also a certain state of mind.

Marcelo accepted the mission, to save the Girondins.

“I think he can bring a lot of things.

Already, his rigor of work.

Stability too and a lot of freshness to a struggling team.

For me, it's a good choice for Bordeaux.

Substitute in Reims, holder in Lens in a week?

It remains to be seen in what physical condition the defender is, having passed through PSV, Hanover or even Besiktas.

He may have chained ten games in a row with the OL reserve in National 2, there is a world with the L1.

This week, at Haillan, he navigated between group and individual sessions.

This Sunday, he should start on the bench in Reims even if he “feels very well” and recalls in passing that “the justice of the peace is the field!

»

“At the sporting level, he was solid.

He made his impact.

Of course, he was above.

In addition, he was productive with three goals, and some important ones, ”says one of his ex-teammates in recent months before adding:

"Physically, he came back with us in January and even if he didn't play the last matches because he was on the way out, he's ready for me.

»

There would therefore not be too much to worry about for anyone who dreams of ending his career at Santos in a few years.

“There is no doubt, insists Admar Lopes, he can play until he is 40 like Hilton!

Here, another clone…

Sport

Lyon and Marcelo terminate their contract, the Brazilian is free

Sport

Sent to reserve after the fiasco against Angers, Marcelo no longer enters into Peter Bosz's plans

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