Goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga has left Liverpool to rejoin Brazilian club Fluminense after four-and-a-half years with the Reds.
There were high hopes for Pitaluga when he joined Liverpool as a 17-year-old in 2020.
A succession of disappointing loan spells, though, saw his development stall and he is now returning to Fluminense, where Liverpool originally signed the goalkeeper from in a deal worth up to £1.8 million.
The Reds have agreed to send Pitaluga back to the Brazilian Serie A side for free on a permanent deal.
While there is no transfer fee, Brazilian outlets including O Globo report that Liverpool will hold a 40 percent sell-on clause, entitling them to a future fee if he is sold later in his career.
Why are Liverpool releasing Marcelo Pitaluga?
When Pitaluga arrived, Caoimhin Kelleher hadn’t yet developed into the player we see today.
Adrian was at the club but Liverpool were looking for a longer-term option who could grow into a quality goalkeeper, with the young Brazilian arriving partly on recommendation from Alisson.
Seeking game time, Pitaluga went to Macclesfield for the 2022/23 season where he suffered ankle ligament damage.
However, he still managed to play 26 times in all competitions for the then-eighth-tier outfit, making a good impression as they won the Northern Premier League Division One West.
Next up was a loan spell beginning in January 2024 with St Patrick’s Athletic.
This trip to Ireland didn’t go as planned, as he struggled to make the team and played just seven times before returning to Liverpool early.
His loan at Livingston in the first half of this campaign followed a similar pattern; Pitaluga failed to make a single Scottish Championship appearance and played just twice in the Scottish Challenge Cup – a knockout competition for teams outside the top flight.
For all his woes on loan, Pitaluga trained regularly with the first team at Liverpool and made the bench seven times under Jurgen Klopp.
Out of favour under Arne Slot, with Vitezslav Jaros and Harvey Davies above him in the pecking order, Pitaluga “jumped at the opportunity to rejoin Fluminense,” according to The Athletic‘s James Pearce.
Good luck for the future, Marcelo!
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