Marcelo Saraiva

Marcelo Andrés Valencia Saraiva (born 17 May 2002) is a Guatemalan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder.

Marcelo Saraiva

Personal information
Full name	Marcelo Andrés Valencia Saraiva
Date of birth	(2002-05-17) 17 May 2002 (age 23)
Place of birth	Guatemala City, Guatemala
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
2012–2017	Flamengo
2017–2020	Internacional
2021–2022	Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2022–2023	Antigua	6	(0)
2024–2025	Comunicaciones	2	(0)
International career‡
2019	Guatemala U17	4	(0)
2019–	Guatemala	2	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 30 November 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 6 January 2021

Club career

Nottingham Forest

Saraiva joined the Nottingham Forest under-23's side on 7 January 2021, signing a contract until June 2022.^[1] Saraiva had previously played with Brazilian sides Flamengo^[2] and Internacional, but left the latter club in September 2020 to pursue opportunities in Europe following a successful application for a Portuguese passport.^[3] On 10 June 2022, Nottingham Forest announced that Saraiva would be leaving the club once his contract expired.^[4]

International career

Saraiva has represented Guatemala at the under-17 level in 2019, before playing with the senior Guatemala national team against Puerto Rico in the CONCACAF Nations League in November 2019.^[3][5]

Personal life

Marcelo is the son of former Brazilian footballer Marcelo Henrique Saraiva and Lourdes Valencia, who belongs to a family of renowned Guatemalan footballers including Everaldo Valencia, who also played for the Guatemala National Team.