Marlon Santos admits he hopes to return to Barcelona one day, but insists he has developed as a footballer at Sassuolo.

The Brazil native burst onto the scene with Fluminese at the tender age of 18 in 2013, making 51 appearances before being snapped up by the Catalan giants on loan.

The athletic centre-back moved between Barcelona B and Barcelona during his first season at Camp Nou, and impressed the club enough to earn a permanent switch worth €5m.

A loan spell at Nice followed in the summer of 2018, but it was ended prematurely and Marlon was eventually sold to Sassuolo this past summer.

Barca received €6m for Marlon but there is a buy-back clause in his contract.

And speaking in an exclusive interview with Tribalfootball, Marlon said: "I'm deeply thankful to the club and I think I will go back, but at the moment I'm focused on the Sassuolo team.

"Concerning my future, I lay in God's hands since he will always hold something good for me."

Santos has become a regular at Sassuolo this season, having started 14 out of 17 games in the Serie A.

And the 24-year-old believes he has already learnt more in six months with Sassuolo than a full season at Nice.

"In comparison with the time I spent in Nice, my situation in Sassuolo has been positive," he continued.

"If previously I've been able to learn a lot, now I'm learning even more. I'm improving my professional skills and the comparison with Nice is particularly positive because it shows the evidence of this improvement.

"I definitely feel this improvement and I think I've grown a lot in the defensive aspect, at which I knew I had to make some adjustments. I also feels that, little by little, I've learnt the proper behaviour to fit the Italian Serie A."

Based in the small town of Sassuolo in the province of Modena, Roberto Di Zerbi's side have battled the odds to maintain their top-flight status for the past five seasons.

And Santos took time to praise his new club.

"I see Sassuolo as a great serious and responsible club, which shows commitment and pays attention to all the aspects of its players' lives, allowing us to grow in our professional skills."

Despite being content in Italy, Santos admits he looks at the Premier League as a competition he would love to join in the future.

He was asked about the progress of fellow Brazilian youngster Gabriel Martinelli at Arsenal.

"I have followed him, since Martinelli is Brazilian just as me, and I wish my fellow Brazilian will improve even more as a professional player.

"As far as the Premier League I surely wish I will play in that championship, it is actually a dream for me."