Arsenal have announced the loan signing of central defender Pablo Marí on loan from Flamengo, with an option to buy this summer, in the first incoming transfer of the Mikel Arteta era.
The 26-year-old Spaniard had three seasons as a Manchester City employee from 2016, while Arteta was there, but never played for the club, going on loan to Girona, NAC Breda and Deportivo La Coruña.
???? "Pablo, welcome to Arsenal. How does it feel to be an Arsenal player?"
???? Watch @PabloMV5's first interview on the Arsenal app and Arsenal Player ????
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 29, 2020
Marí joined Flamengo in July 2019 and the Brazilian club announced on Twitter on Wednesday that he was leaving. “Pablo Marí, thanks for everything,” they wrote, pointing to his part in winning a league title and the Copa Libertadores.
Arteta has been keen to bring in a centre-back but received welcome news on Tuesday when it emerged that the ankle injury suffered by Shkodran Mustafi was not as bad as feared and that the German should not be out for long.
Marí, who is left-footed, has played 22 top-division games in Europe, 20 for Breda in the Netherlands and the others for Mallorca, where he came through the ranks.
Arsenal’s technical director, Edu, told the club’s website: “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.”
