Barcelona’s summer signing Malcom has stressed that he is pleased with his position with the Catalan giants despite taking time to adjust to the manager’s style of play. The Brazilian had managed only 25 minutes of league action until late October but he has appeared to turn the corner of late after scoring an important Champions League goal in the 1-1 draw against Inter Milan.

Speaking to reporters, Malcom highlighted that he has settled well into the new surroundings despite finding first-team football hard to come by under Ernesto Valverde, he said: “I have settled very well, I am learning Spanish. This team is like a family and everyone wants the best for each other, we make many a joke in the changing room. The relationships are getting better. I want to play difficult games to show the coach that I have the quality to be in this team. I spoke to him and he [Valverde] told me what I needed to do to get minutes.”

Malcom scored the crunch leveller for the Blaugrana against Inter after coming on for the final 10 minutes of the game and his performance thereafter earned him a starting league spot against Real Betis after Philippe Coutinho was sidelined with an injury. However, he could not quite capitalise on the opportunity and he was benched before the hour mark of the shock 4-3 defeat at the Camp Nou.

Next up, Barcelona have a tricky challenge on the road to Atletico Madrid and the match may witness Malcom drop to the bench with Coutinho having returned to training earlier in the week. The reigning champions are currently top of the league standings with 24 points, just one ahead of Sevilla, Atletico Madrid, and Alaves, who are second, third and fourth respectively on goal difference.