Former Barcelona attacker Malcom shares that he has been contacted for a possible return to the La Liga club at the end of the current season. The Brazilian forward, who appears to be unsettled in Russia after moving to Zenit Saint Petersburg on a five-year contract in the summer, reveals that he is weighing up his return to Spain after reportedly suffering racial abuse from fans. The 22 years old footballer says he has no regrets of his one year spell at Camp Nou and insists that supporters have high regard on him.
Malcom has been reportedly the subject of racial abuse from Zenit fans just a few days after he moved to the club with racist banners hanging on his debut. For fans, the absence of 'black' players is an important tradition. The Brazilian winger just made a couple of appearances after suffering from injuries and recently tells RMC Sport through Marca that he has received messages of a possible return to Barca.
[MARCA] | Malcom: I've received messages about returning to Barcelona
Malcom: "I can say that I receive messages about returning to Barcelona. Every time the coach gave me an opportunity to play, I did my job and I think I did it well.That's why the Barcelona fans love me." pic.twitter.com/Z6LSmiR1Dh — BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) November 24, 2019
Malcom shares that every time he is given the opportunity to play at Camp Nou, he feels he did well and because of that he thinks that Barcelona fans still love him. He also admits that he has no regrets joining either Zenit or Barcelona. The racism issue is rampant in Russia and in 2012, Zenit fans launched a campaign to prevent the club from acquiring gay and black players. This is not the first time that the country has issues with racism. It can be recalled that in 2018 Russia was fined £22,000 because of racist chants during a friendly match with France. Despite the tough start in Russia, Malcom states he has no regrets. He adds that he is young and wants to play anywhere because of his love for the sport.
Malcom (Zenit) "My season at Barça? No, I don't regret it. I am young, I want to play, anywhere, because I like football, so I want to play and it was Zenit that gave me the opportunity to play football." [rmc sport] — FC Barcelona Fl ️ (@FCBarcelonaFl) November 23, 2019
According to Malcom, Zenit is the team that gave him the chance to play football. The 22 years old Brazilian attacker earned a name for himself after impressing with League 1 outfit Bordeaux across three seasons before moving to Barca for a £35million deal. Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Phillip Coutinho, and Ousmane Dembele indicate that Malcom's first-team opportunity is limited.
Barcelona's summer signing of Antoine Griezmann pushed the Brazilian forward down the order at Camp Nou. This reportedly prompted him to accept the £36.5m/$44.5m offer to move to Zenit.
