Manchester City's Marlos Moreno joins Flamengo on loan until December

by
Deportivo La Coruna's Colombian forward Marlos Moreno gestures during the Spanish league football match RC Deportivo de la Coruna vs Villarreal CF at the Municipal de Riazor stadium in La Coruna on January 14, 2017. / AFP / MIGUEL RIOPA

MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP / Getty

Marlos Moreno is returning to the continent where he was born.

On Tuesday, Moreno became Flamengo’s first reinforcement for the 2018 season, as the Mengao confirmed that the Colombian attacker joined the club on loan from Manchester City until December 31, 2018. The product of Atletico Nacional was on loan at Girona, but played just 28 minutes in La Liga for the Catalan club and returned to South America.

City signed Moreno from Nacional for a reported transfer fee of £4.75 million in 2016. The footballer inked a five-year deal and was loaned to RC Deportivo La Coruna, where he didn’t tally a single goal through 19 La Liga appearances. It went from bad to worse at Girona. As written by Tim Vickery, he grumbled that the Catalan club didn’t field strikers in wide spaces and therefore had no need for him.

Before Moreno joined City, Vickery called him “the most exciting talent thrown up by South American football.” He was at the heart of Nacional’s conquest of the Copa Libertadores in 2016, during which time he debuted for Colombia in a 2018 World Cup qualifier and represented Los Cafeteros at the Copa America Centenario, where he tallied his first international goal.

The original plan was reportedly for Moreno to team up with Reinaldo Rueda at Flamengo. It was the Colombian manager who groomed him at Nacional, using him on the left flank and in a central role. But the tactician resigned and took charge of Chile, and the Mengao appointed Paulo Cesar Carpegiani.

“I’m fine physically,” Moreno said, according to Globo Esporte’s Rapahel Zarko. “I’d been training since December. I think it’s a great opportunity to show my level.”

At Flamengo, Moreno will apparently wear No. 17.

<