£27m star says ‘spectacular’ Arsenal teammate coaches him

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Arsenal central defender Gabriel has told ESPN Brasil that his teammate Pablo Mari coaches him during games.

The 23-year-old Brazilian defender has said that communication between him and Mari on the pitch is very good, and that he gets a lot of help from the 27-year-old Spaniard.

Gabriel joined Arsenal from Lille in the summer of 2020 for a transfer fee reported by talkSPORT to be worth £27 million.

The Brazilian told ESPN Brasil: “David is a person without words, he is always helping me, Pablo, too. We are always talking because he plays in the same position, what we should have done, what we can do to improve, what we can do. Whether it is me or he who plays, it doesn’t matter, we don’t have that rivalry.

“I see that he (Mari) is a spectacular person and I see how much he cheers for me when I am on the pitch, he is always praising me, talking to me, at the intervals of the games too, what he sees out there, in what I can improve and vice versa. When he is also on the pitch, I always try to be talking to him, I was very happy that he started the game against Sheffield United.

“It was a long time since we had a game without conceding goals. He is very important person for the team, has very good experience. Rob (Holding) is also a little more difficult to communicate with, but when we are on the field we try to communicate as much as Mikel asks.”

Encouraging

Mari has had injury problems during his time at Arsenal and has not really made as big an impact as many would have expected him to.

According to WhoScored, the 27-year-old has made eight appearances in the Premier League, and has scored one goal in three Europa League games for the Gunners so far this season.

Despite his limited availability, it seems that the former Flamengo star is helping out a younger player in Gabriel.

Gabriel himself has done well for the Gunners and appears to have a bright future at the North London club.

According to WhoScored, the 23-year-old has made 16 starts and one substitute appearance in the Premier League and has played six times in the Europa League for Arsenal so far this season.