Arsenal defender David Luiz has been raving over new man Pablo Mari.
Pablo Mari joined Arsenal on loan late in the January transfer window from Flamengo in Brazil, with the Gunners having an option to buy should they be impressed with what the Spaniard brings to north London.
His new teammate David Luiz has been full of praise for the centre-back, telling Football.London: “He’s a great player, he did amazing in Brazil under Jorge Jesus, a coach I know very well, he’s my friend and one of the top coaches in the world. It was a pleasure for me seeing Pablo and Rodrigo Caio, another friend, doing really well in Brazil. I hope he can help us.”
The Spanish defender will help strengthen the Gunners backline and with Kieran Tierney, Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares and Sead Kolasinac all currently injured – it’s definitely an area Mikel Arteta needed to improve on.
Mari started his senior footballing career very far down the ladder with Gimnastic de Tarragona, who currently play in the Spanish third division.
The 26-year-old was later picked up by Manchester City but never played for the Sky Blues after being a regular in Gimnastic’s side playing 96 matches for them.
Despite never playing in Manchester, Mari was later sold for £1.53m to his now parent club Flamengo after various loan spells in the Netherlands and Spain.
City not even considering to play the centre-back could be a little bit worrying for the Gooners, however, big clubs have got young talent wrong before – so perhaps Arteta is hoping they can cash in on the Manchester giant’s mistake.
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