How Barcelona's Next Superstar Disappeared As Quickly As He Was Discovered: The Story Of Malcom

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

Ever since the embarrassment that took place in the 2014 World Cup, Brazil have had a resurgence in talent, especially from wingers. There’s Gabriel Martinelli ripping it up at Arsenal, Antony getting linked for £70 million transfers, and Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr who both played huge roles in winning the UCL for Real Madrid. But there was one player in 2018 who looked to have just as much potential as all of them. Malcom was a Brazillian wonderkid who was lighting it up for Bordeaux in Ligue 1 and earnt a move to Barcelona. But then after a season he left Barcelona and now in 2022 he seemed to have just… disappeared? Today I decided to take a deeper look into Malcom’s career, and work out what derailed the talent of a once promising footballer.

Malcom got his breakthrough at eleven years old, signing a contract for Corinthians in 2008. He would then get his senior debut in 2014 at seventeen years old, playing the last ten minutes in a 2-0 win against Bahia De Feira. Four days later he made his home debut, playing the final twelve minutes against Atlético Sorocaba. In April he would play his first league game, and his first senior goal came later in the year against Chapecoense. 2015 was a great year for both Malcom and Corinthians. Corinthians won the league by twelve points, while an eighteen year old Malcom scored five goals in 29 appearances. This was barred by controversy however, as only twenty days after his eighteenth birthday, Malcom obtained his driver’s licence. The problem with this was that it usually takes at least three months to be granted a license in Brazil, and he was eventually caught out for fraud and had his license revoked. However nothing serious ever came of the charges.

At the end of the 2015 season, Malcom was only eighteen years old, but was already looking for a move to Europe. Eventually he would get his wish. After moving on from Tunisian winger Wahbi Khazri, Ligue 1 club Bordeuax took a chance on Malcom, signing the winger for five million Euros. He didn’t dissapoint. While his debut ended in a disappointing 4-1 loss, Malcom only had to wait until ten days after signing to score for Bordeaux. Malcom then found some consistent form towards the end of the season, grabbing an assist in a 4-2 win against Troyes, and then scored his first goal in Ligue 1 a week later against Lorient. Keep in mind Malcom wasn’t even twenty, and yet this young Brazillian was scoring goals in Ligue 1. The 2016-17 season would be Malcom’s first full season with Bordeaux and he did not disappoint, starting his season with a goal on opening day. He would then score two goals in September. Now it was clear Malcom was talented, but his inconsistency was a worry. Malcolm wouldn’t score his next league goal until January, and finished the 2016-17 season with a somewhat disappointing seven league goals, and nine in all competitions. Malcom would continue to train hard and have his true breakout season in 2017-18. Malcom scored twelve goals in Ligue 1, including the goal of the season with a long range strike vs Dijon. Now with Malcom finally looking like a star, Bordeaux decided they could move him on for 40 million Euros. AS Roma had some interest, and eventually they got their man, signing Malcom to their team. At least that's what they thought.

FC Barcelona came in with a deal and hijacked the transfer. And can you blame Malcom for accepting this? As a young Brazillian child, Malcom probably watched his fellow countrymen in Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Neymar light it up at the Camp Nou. Did AS Roma understand that? No. Keep in mind this all occurred in 2018, only a few months after AS Roma’s famous comeback over the Catalans in the UCL, so the transfer only added fuel to the fire between these two clubs. The pinnacle of this came when Roma sporting director Monchi said that Roma were going to take Barca to court. Obviously nothing came out of this and as of July 2022 Malcom has never played for AS Roma. Instead Malcom was presented to Barcelona on the 24th of July in 2018. Malcom looked good in his first pre-season with the Catalans. He lost his first game 4-2, but he did score in it, nailing a shot from close range to give Barca a 2-1 lead against, ironically, AS Roma. Malcom also played on the left wing for Barca against AC Milan. Barca lost that 1-0 but the Brazillian was still a massive threat. He heartbreakingly had to miss out on lifting the Supercopa de Espana due to their being a limit on the amount of non-European players that could play in the final, but he did score in the Joan Gamper Trophy three days later, as Barca won the final 3-0 against Boca Juniors. The La Liga season came and in Barcelona’s opening game against Alaves, Malcom was on the bench. His chances of getting in the team weren’t raised either. Lionel Messi scored two goals, while Phillipe Coutinho scored one and Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto also impressed on the flanks. Malcom would play the final six minutes in Barca’s next match against Valladolid, but obviously could not make an impact in that short amount of time. On matchday three Barcelona had a massive 8-2 win against Huesca, but Malcom once again didn’t see the pitch, having to watch his competition in Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele score three of the eight goals, while Coutinho and Sergi Roberto would also play. After the game, Malcom missed the next three games due to a stretched ligament. He then put out a 5/10 performance in a 2-1 loss to Leganes after being brought on to find an equalizer in the 71st minute. Despite an impressive preseason, Malcom was yet to make any real impact in the official matches so far, and was completely left out of the squad by Ernesto Valverde for four games, before being an unused sub for the next two matches. A Lionel Messi injury put him back in contention, but now Rafinha had overtaken him in the pecking order. Malcom played eighty minutes in a cup game against Cultural Leonesa, but failed to score or assist once again, and didn’t make the squad for the next La Liga match. But hey, maybe things were finally turning, as Malcom scored his first goal for Barcelona in the Champions League against Inter Milan. He then earned a start against Betis, but failed to produce anything and was back to the bench. But he was still in Valverde’s plans, being a supersub in the next three matches against Atletico Madrid, PSV, and Villareal, before scoring in the second leg of their Copa Del Ray match against Cultural Leonesa. But no matter how good you are, you need luck, and luck wasn’t on Malcom’s side. At the end of the match, Malcom would pick up an ankle injury. This would sideline him for a month. On the 11th of January Malcom would finally return, but it was clear he wasn’t his usual self, and was subbed off after 67 minutes. And from there on, he would never really recover. Between January and April, Malcom would only feature in eight of a possible fifteen La Liga games. He only played a full ninety in two of them as well, with Valverde only trusting the winger for four starts. Aside from a great game against Villareal where he would grab a goal and an assist, and an assist against Espanyol, he wouldn’t make any real impact. Even in the Copa Del Rey, Malcom wasn’t guaranteed minutes. In the quarter finals against Sevilla, Malcom was substituted after a horrific day against Sevilla, missing a great chance in a match Barca would lose 2-0. They would win the second leg 6-1 but Malcom would not see the pitch. In the semis Malcom actually scored an equalizer against Real Madrid, which was probably his best moment in a Barca shirt. Barcelona would win 3-0 in the second leg to win 4-1 on aggregate but once again, Malcom would not play. And as for the Champions League, Malcom was the forgotten man, not playing a single minute in the Round of 16, the quarter finals, or the first leg against Liverpool in the semis, although he probably should’ve as he most definitely would’ve scored this chance. He was brought on for the final ten minutes at Anfield a week later, but obviously did not contribute anything as Barcelona bottled their second three goal lead in two years. After the Liverpool game, there were three matches left in Barcelona’s season. There were two La Liga games, which had become unimportant as Barcelona had already clinched the league, while there was also the Copa Del Rey final against Valencia. Malcolm was given a start in both of the La Liga games, playing the first 78 minutes against Getafe and the first 73 minutes against Eibar, but once again failing to score or assist in either match. Then came the Copa Del Ray final. Barcelona did not start well, being 2-0 down at halftime. Malcom was subbed on at half time and actually looked like one of Barca’s better players. Playing on the right wing, Malcom looked like the pacy, skillful baller we had all seen at Bordeaux. Jose Gaya could not keep up with the Brazillian, and had to resort to repeatedly fouling him. Malcom was unlucky to not grab an assist throughout this match. Lionel Messi hit the post and Gerard Pique should’ve finished another chance. On a different day Malcom has two assists in a 10/10 performance. But quite frankly it wasn’t his day, or anyone at Barcelona’s. Lionel Messi scored but Valencia held on, and upset Barca to win their eighth Copa Del Rey. That concluded the end of Barcelona’s season and sadly, the end of Malcom’s Barcelona career.

The end of Malcom’s Barcelona career was inevitable. With Barcelona wanting to sign Antonie Griezmann, Malcom was told he could leave, and ended up signing with Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg for a 45 million pound fee. And it was probably for the best. Malcom was clearly a skillful player, and had his moments, but was inconsistent and needed a few games to get going, which is hard to get at Barcelona. Malcom’s form in Russia has been a mixed bag. He was ruled out for half of his first season with a hip injury, and only played fifteen times. In the 20/21 season, Malcom could only contribute with three goals and four assists, though to his credit, he did do better this past season with nine goals and eight assists. He also scored the winner in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Gold Medal match, which must’ve felt incredible. But Malcom certainly hasn’t lived up to his expectations like we thought. He’s still got time, but as of now this is looking to be one of football’s greatest what if stories in recent memory.