Marquino pulled on a yellow and red shirt for the first time on 30 January 2012 as he was signed by Roma on a loan deal with a buy-out clause. He's a versatile midfielder and made his professional debut in 2007 for Botafogo where he made 5 appearances. The following season he played for Figueirense as a first choice player in the team, scoring 5 times in 26 games. In 2009 he signed for Fluminense and in 2010 won the Brasileirão with the team from Rio, where he showed he was one of the emerging talents of Brazilian football. In January 2012 he was given the chance of a lifetime: Italy and Luis Enrique's Roma. The future is now and well does Marquinho know it.

Brazil
Marquinho started in football at Gaúcho, playing for other Rio Grande do Sul-based youth clubs until he was transferred to Vasco da Gama and later to Palmeiras. During his time at Palmeiras, he was promoted to the first team in 2007 after his manager threatened not to renew Marquinho's contract since he acted only in Palmeiras B without first team opportunities.

His first game in the first team was on January 18, 2007 in a 4-2 win at Campeonato Paulista. He also played at Brasileirão against Goiás in August 2007 before moving to Botafogo. In 2008, after being discharged from the Rio de Janeiro club, he was signed by Figueirense, being a member of the starting eleven and moving to Fluminense the following year. At the end of 2009, after a long battle against relegation, Marquinho scored in the 1-1 away draw against Coritiba in the last league match, a result that kept Fluminense at Série A and relegated Coritiba to Série B. In 2010, he was part of the team that led Fluminense to win the national title after 26 years.

Roma
Marquinho moved to Roma on 31 January 2012 on a six-month loan. He made his debut on 19 February against Parma and scored his first goal on 1 April in a 5-2 win against Novara.He scored a goal against Udinese on 11 April 2012, and one more against Napoli two weeks later. At the end of a very impressive spell at Roma, they officially signed the midfielder for a reportedly 3 million euros from Fluminese. He scored his first goal of the season against Inter on 2 September 2012 in a 1-3 victory.