Arsenal have completed the signing of Flamengo centre-back Pablo Mari on loan until the end of the season.
The 26-year-old defender becomes the club’s first signing under Mikel Arteta, with Arsenal paying a £4m loan fee, while the deal also includes an £8m option to make the transfer permanent.
“I’m a very professional player. I like working hard every day to achieve objectives,” Mari said. “One thing I can control is working hard on a daily basis to help my team-mates to win football matches and repay the faith that Mikel and Arsenal have shown me by signing me to play here, so that’s my main objective. I want to take it one day at a time and achieve big things at Arsenal.”
“The conversations started a couple of weeks ago. Arsenal told us they were interested. We’d just won everything with Flamengo – the league and the Copa Libertadores. That will have helped Arsenal notice me.”
Mari had previously flown to London last week with Edu before the transfer almost collapsed due to a disagreement over the upfront fee. However, an agreement was reached after Flamengo confirmed the signing of replacement Leo Pereira from Athletico Paranaense.
Mari spent three seasons at Manchester City but never made an appearance for the club, spending time at Girona, NAC Breda and Deportive La Coruna on loan. Flamengo signed the Spaniard for around £1m last summer.
“Pablo is an experienced player who will provide us with additional defensive quality,” Edu said following the deal’s announcement. “We have been monitoring Pablo’s career for a while and we are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Flamengo for him to join us initially until the end of our season.”
Arsenal have been desperate to bring in defensive reinforcements after Calum Chambers was ruled out until the end of the season.
Shkodran Mustafi then suffered an ankle injury earlier this week during Arsenal’s FA Cup victory against Bournemouth, but concerns were eased after a scan on Tuesday revealed the German had only suffered a sprain.
It’s understood Arsenal could still look to bring in one more player on loan before the window closes on Friday.
