Malcom was born on 26 February 1997 in Sao Paulo. His parents couldn’t settle on a name for their newborn son, with his mother wanting to name him Felipe, and the father going for something much more original and named his son after African-American civil rights activist, Malcolm X!
When registering his name, a compromise was reached and Malcolm Felipe become the new Zenit star’s official name. “I lived with my mother, as my parents are divorced. I don’t have much to do with my father, but when I make it as a footballer, its my hope to help him, as I’m sad how things have turned out.” Malcom said in 2014.
His mother wasn’t a fan of the name Malcom, so she always called her son Felipe, and even hung up on his school when they called to complain about Malcom’s behavior. But when the Malcom’s profession career beegn, he settled on the name Malcom. His mum Flavia has said “I rarely go to my son’s matches, I’m too nervous. At home I stay in the kitchen or bathroom, so I can’t see or hear the match. For me, he is not a son who became a famous player, he’s still my little boy!”
Up to 10 years, Malcom played both indoor outdoor and indoor football. “Futsal helped me a lot, I learned how to go round people and became a real technical and team player, loving to play a pass,” The Brazilian recalled. At the age of 10, Malcom joined the famous Corinthians and had to give up playing on the street with his childhood friends, but now he spends every holiday with them in Brazil.
During the first six months Malcom was adapting and provided one goal and three assists in his 12 games, however the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons were amazing for him, 31 points in the goal + pass system (19 goals and 12 assists) and in July 2018 Roma and Bordeaux announced that Malcom will be moving to Rome, such a big seemed logical in Brazilian’s career.
Malcom was supposed to board the plane which the Roma sporting director, alongside his agent Fernando Garcia. Garcia gave the player a call and instructed him to go back home and soon after, Barcelona scooped up Malcom, offering him a better deal.
After the Barcelona signing of Malcom, the player explained why he chose Spain over Italy: “I never accepted Roma’s offer but my agent had agreed. It’s cool to play in Rome but playing for Barcelona is a dream. I always chose Barcelona in video games, I like their style. I am very happy the way things turned out.”
In Spain Malcom started learning Spanigh straight away: “I have three lessons a week and I speak to all my teammates in Spanish. After I learn it fully, I plan on learning Catalan too.”
Barcelona's players have always said that Malcom feels very confident both on and off the pitch, and although Ernesto Valverde never criticised him publicly, Malcom could not secure a spot in the starting XI. “There is so much competition in Barcelona. Messi’s and Suarez’ position aren't in doubt. On the wing is Coutinho, Dembele and me” - Malcom stated.
Malcom's first big break came in 2014, when at 17 he made it into the Corinthians U20 side and just a few month later, made his debut in the first team and his mum even created a fan page for him on Facebook, “People constantly add me as a friend, write to me and wish me good luck, this makes me very happy.
In 2015, The Corinthians team included players such as Titus, Wagner Love, Jadson, Renato Augusto and Paulinho all alongside Malcom won the Brazilian championship, setting a record for the number of points in the process. “This is the best feeling in life! When I was two years old, I was sitting on the my uncle’s shoulders supporting Corinthians and now I am on the pitch and we are champions! Nothing is better!” Malcom said.
In the same year, Malcom and Brazil National Football Team took second place at the youth world cup. “Before 2015 I was unknown, so right after the first training I sent my mum a selfie with Brazil’s shirt on” - says Malcom. During the tournament Malcom appeared in five games, against North Korea, Nigeria, Uruguay, Portugal, and Serbia.
After a successful 2015 season, then 18-year-old Malcom was raising interest in Europe, but Tite was opposed to selling the player,he didn’t hold any conversations about it saying that another year in Brazil will be get more from Malcom. However Corinthians could not hold on to the winger and in January 2016 Malcom joined Bordeaux.
Young Brazilians usually take a while to adapt to Europe, but Malcom got stright in to it quite comfortably. “Bordeaux is a quite city, unlike Sao Paulo where it's dangerous to be on the streets at night. Bordeaux has Brazilian, Argentinian and Uruguayan players. The club asked me if I wanted to learn French, and I said I did so now I understand everything that’s said. There are a couple of sentences I can’t pronounce, but French people are always helping me and correcting me.”
It seems that the midfielder was struggling with the football aspect of the transfer more. Malcom was saying that the French league plays a more athletic version of football which is why his first year at Bordeaux was filled with working out at the gym. Training sessions at Bordeaux were more intense than in Corinthians, but shorter - an hour and ten minutes instead of two hours.
In the 2018/19 season, Malcom played 24 matches for Barcelona, ??in which he scored four goals (against Villarreal in the league, Inter in the Champions League and against Cultural Leonesa and Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup. He also made two assists against Espanyol and Villarreal in La Liga.
“It was hard for me to get into professional football as I come from a family in Brazil who did not have the money to buy what I wanted. It was very difficult, but now I have lots of reasons to smile” Malcolm said.
Welcome to St. Petersburg Malcom, we can’t wait to see you out on the Zenit wing!
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