Arsenal have announced that Pablo Mari has left the club.
The Spanish centre-back has moved to Italy to join Udinese on a half-season loan agreement.
Honestly, the writing had been very much on the wall for Mari at Arsenal this season.
Having managed only three appearances across all competitions up until now, a January departure was always on the cards in some capacity.
For whatever reason, the big defender fell out of favour under Gunners manager Mikel Arteta.
However, he remains a very popular figure within this Arsenal squad and we know this because of what sort of responses the former Manchester City prospect garnered on Instagram.
The 28-year-old claimed on social media that he was ‘happy and proud’ to have joined the Serie A outfit.
And an array of his Arsenal teammates – past and present – flocked to wish him well.
Granit Xhaka wrote: “Good luck brother.” And Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who briefly played alongside Mari until the former’s exit to the Midlands in 2020, posted “Suerte papi,” which, when translated, effectively means ‘good luck’.
Mari even made an impression among the Arsenal academy prospects, with Charlie Patino also contributing: “All the best bro.”
Is Mari coming back?
Well, the former Flamengo stalwart will find himself back at London Colney at some point during the summer, but it’ll be a layover.
Whatever happens, Mari is almost certainly never going to kick a football for Arsenal ever again.
Arteta has too many options in central defence and could potentially have even more next summer.
If Mari succeeds in Italy, and providing it makes sense financially, then he’ll probably wind up staying at Udinese but, even if he flops completely, a long-term return to the Emirates Stadium simply isn’t going to happen.
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