

It seems as if Francis Gillot has already begun has January spending and Brazilian football write Chris Atkins from The Elastico and Sambafoot was kind enough to tell us all about Les Girondins new signing.

Earlier this week, Bordeaux sealed the signing of full-back Mariano for €3.25 million from Brazilian giants Fluminense.

Since initially signing for the Rio de Janeiro club on loan in 2009, the 25-year-old right wing-back has been a revelation and has fast emerged as one of the finest players in his position in the Brazilian game. Indeed, only last week Mariano was voted the second best right-back of the 2011 Brasileirão season, an award that he won last season in Fluminense’s championship-winning year.

On arrival in France, the greatest attribute that Mariano will provide Bordeaux is his extreme pace from full-back. His acceleration is frightening at times and has provided Fluminense with a valuable attacking weapon down the right-flank, supplying crosses in for the likes of ex-Lyon forward Fred to convert.

With these attacking bursts forward, it is never a surprise to see Mariano’s name on the score-sheet, even if he isn’t that frequent a scorer. However, it is as a provider of assists where the full-back has excelled for the Tricolor, providing nine goals for his team-mates this campaign alone, and if played, Mariano will no doubt continue to supply excellent service for the likes of Cheikh Diabaté and Anthony Modeste.

However, here is where the dilemma arises for the French side. A Brazilian ‘lateral’ is very different from the European (and particularly British) understanding of a full-back. They are expected to provide the entirety of the sides width, meaning they are very much used as an attacking weapon.

This means in a conventional four-man European defence, where the full-backs are played behind more advanced wide-men, the defensive responsibilities are much greater. On arrival from Brazil, many laterals struggle to adapt to the new demands and particularly the positional awareness of dealing with wide forwards, or wingers. Some, like Daniel Alves and Roberto Carlos are given a Brazilian style role within their sides, covered by the presence of holding midfielders, whilst others make the transition forward to become out-and-out wingers.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Mariano in this respect. Defensively, he is not the best in terms of positional sense, but he is no liability and in Brazil at least, his searing pace often allows for recovery. When teams in Ligue 1 start to attack him on a more frequent basis with traditional wide-man, it will be a true test of whether he can make the move work, or whether a move into midfield is required.

What is for certain though is that at €3.25 million, Bordeaux have potentially got themselves a bargain. Mariano has been called-up to the Brazil squad twice under current boss Mano Menezes, as well as attracting the interest of Roma and Bayern Munich in the recent past – it is a real coup for the French side. Should the transition go well, there is a potential for substantial profit on a re-sale and if not so well, Bordeaux could easily fetch an equivalent price for the player to return to Brazil.

I, amongst many others, am very interested to see how the switch works out for Mariano. He has proved his quality in Brazil, with little more to achieve. Now, he must once more set to work on demonstrating his quality and who knows, with Maicon and Daniel Alves ageing, there may just be time for Mariano to make an impact with the Seleção in the future.