Marcelo: “I want to play for many more years”

Among other things, he spoke about his career at Real Madrid in an interview with “Athletic” Marcelo, while also referring to his return to Fluminense.

The Brazilian full-back emphasized that he would not be negative in ending his career at the club that promoted him, while he revealed that he would like to play football for several more years.

In detail what he said:

“I came thinking I would see the pitch and signed the contract of my life. I had only seen the players in video games or on TV. I thought what they called Los Galacticos didn’t exist, like I was never going to actually find these people. And it was a shock to be honest. When I got out of there, I told my family and friends, “I’ve seen him, him, him, him, him… all of them.” They laughed. I laughed too. Then I got used to it.”

On his greatest moment at Real: “The last day with Real Madrid. The nicest thing was when we were at the Santiago Bernabeu and the fans were chanting “Marcelo, stay!”. It was funny because they knew I wasn’t going to stay, but it was nice for me. In my first interview I had talked about wanting to come here and help win titles and I left as the player with the most titles.

Someone will overtake me and I will be happy because Real will keep winning, but to walk away with this distinction is incredible luck. When you come, you don’t come and say you’re going to win and become the player with the most titles. I don’t know if other clubs ever chased me, but if they did while I was at Real Madrid, I would never leave, because I always wanted to be at Real. Now, I’m back here (p.s. the interview took place at Real’s training ground) and I feel the love of the officials, the players, the restaurant staff, the security, the doctors, everyone. It’s like thinking you’ve changed schools – you leave your friends there, but then you see them.”

On why he returned to Fluminense and what his goals are: “The most beautiful thing, for me, is to return to where I grew up as a child, to return to the team that made me a footballer and prepared me for the career I had in Madrid and Brazil (played 58 times with the national team since 2006 -2018).

On whether Fluminense is the last stop in his career: “Well, I don’t know what can happen, I still want to play for many more years. But if I have to finish my career, let it be at Fluminense. For the love they gave me, for everything that helped me since I was a child. It’s absolute gratitude, 100%. I am very grateful to Fluminense”