Dean Ashton has described Norwich City loan star Marquinhos as 'special' after a productive debut against Cardiff on Saturday.

The Brazilian, who joined City on loan from Arsenal last month, made his first appearance for the club against the Welsh side, scoring one and teeing up Gabriel Sara before being replaced by Teemu Pukki on the hour mark. 

David Wagner has backed the young winger to make a success of his temporary move to Norfolk, arriving to inject some more creativity into their side after Danel Sinani's departure to Wigan. 

The 19-year-old joined Arsenal in a £3m move last summer from Sao Paulo but was sent to Norwich by the Premier League leaders in pursuit of more regular game time. 

Kieran Dowell's form and injury troubles have forced Marquinhos to display patience, but he now has his chance to impress after the ex-Everton midfielder was ruled out until the second half of April. 

Former City striker Ashton, who was a pundit on ITV's EFL highlights show, sang the praises of the Arsenal loanee after an encouraging debut at Carrow Road and believes they are lucky to have the teenager until the end of the season. 

“It’s the Brazilian boys, isn’t it? Great Yarmouth is going to be like the Copacabana [Sunday] with kids copying these Brazilian stars," Ashton joked.

“[Gabriel] Sara, that’s two goals in his last four, great strike from outside of the box. This kid [Marquinhos] is special, he scored on his Arsenal debut and he has now scored on his Norwich debut.

“19 years old Marquinhos, wonderful talent, special left-foot. I think [Norwich] are very lucky to have him and I think he could really help them progress and try and get into them play-offs.”