Key player for attacking football

- Primarily, this transfer was the prerogative of the head coach. Marlon is important for building the game, the system practised by De Zerbi. This is a key player for attacking football because, as Roberto says, it all starts from defending. For our part, we also analyzed the player skills and saw that he’s got some really strong qualities. Technically, he is one of the best centre-backs in Europe, this is why we preferred him. It’s important that Marlon has some experience of playing in Europe. I think that in the play practised by De Zerbi, Marlon will greatly help both him and all of us.

- For how many years is the contract with Marlon effective?

- It’s a five-year deal.

- In the summer, Shakhtar carried out a serious transfer campaign. What are your hopes for the coming season?

- First of all, I’d like to mention that we managed to complete staffing the team before they flew for the foreign training camp in Austria. This is a plus because, by and large, not a single European club has even started a transfer campaign since the transfer window opens just in July and will last until the end of August. The European clubs will still have to do it, while we have completed our transfers, and that’s a plus. The coach has all the players he needs, which allows him to conduct the training process in a normal way. We are happy that we managed to seal the deals on the players we really wanted to see at Shakhtar.

- No more incoming transfers this summer break?