Arsenal have completed the signing of Flamengo defender Pablo Mari on an initial loan until the end of the season, paying Brazilian club a fee of around €5m, although the North London side have an option to make the deal permanent.
Pablo Mari became Mikel Arteta’s first ever career signing, giving his side the left-footed centre-back his squad has been lacking.
With Calum Chambers and Shkodran Mustafi out with injury, while the likes of David Luiz and Sokratis Papastathopoulos have struggled to show any consistency in a first half of the season. The Gunners urgently needed more options in defence, and will be hoping that Mari can bring some consistency.
Technical director Edu said: “Pablo is an experienced player who will provide us with additional defensive quality. We have been monitoring Pablo’s career for a while and we are very pleased to have reached agreement with Flamengo for him to join us initially until the end of our season. Together with Mikel and his coaching team, we are all looking forward to seeing Pablo in an Arsenal shirt.”
Everything you need to know about Pablo Mari – click here
Welcome to London. Welcome to Arsenal.@PabloMV5 is coming to the capital! 👋 pic.twitter.com/X07dtNeG5Y
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 29, 2020
