So, it appears that Mikel Arteta has made his first ever signing as a manager, as the Brazilian outlet ColunaDoFLA have announced that the loan deal for the Flamengo defender Pablo Mari has now been made permanent by Arsenal.
They reported this morning (Translated by Google)….
Sealed deal! After loan, Arsenal completes purchase of Flamengo’s Pablo Marí
Defender Pablo Marí arrived at Flamengo in the second half of 2019 and became a key player in Jorge Jesus’ team. With such success, it did not take long to attract interest from Europeans. Earlier this year, he was loaned to Arsenal, and the English club decided to exercise the purchase right and stay with the athlete permanently.With the purchase, Pablo Marí became the most expensive defender ever negotiated by Flamengo. Since the start of the loan, Fla had already received € 5 million. In total, the transaction can reach € 16 million, with bonuses.
It seemed that Pablo Mari had impressed Mikel Arteta before the lockdown and was picked by him on a regular basis ahead of Sokratis, who was demoted to cameo performances at right-back. It is a real shame that he looks to have played his last game for this season after getting a serious injury just 28 minutes into Arsenal’s first game after the restart, and we will probably not see him again until next season, when he will probablybe William Saliba’s partner at centre-back for the Gunners.
But Mari had already made it clear that he wanted to stay at the Emirates back in April, when he told TalkSport: He said: “I’ve been at five clubs over the last four years. This is a footballer’s life.
“If you want to play football and you want to improve [to get to a big club] then every year you need to move.
“Maybe when you find a club that is good for you, then you can stay and improve with that club.
“I have found myself here at Arsenal. It is a really good option for me.
“I want to stay here and improve as a player and a person. I want to be here for many more years.”
This deal more or less confirms that David Luiz will not be given the extension he so desires and could even have played his last game for the Gunners already…