Pablo Mari needs to prove he can adapt to the English game.
Arsenal is on the verge of completing a move for Pablo Mari. The defender is expected to spend the rest of the season with the Gunners, but there are reports that his club wants him to join Arsenal permanently.
Arsenal is in dire need of a defender at the moment, some defenders are underperforming while the likes of Calum Chambers are injured for the long term.
Mari is one of the best defenders in South America, he helped Flamengo to win their Copa Libertadores and the Brazilian league.
He was named in the team of the year in Brazil and he is one of the highest-rated defenders around America. However, he was on the books of Manchester City for three years and he was never good enough to play for their first team.
Mikel Arteta was his assistant manager at the time and if City didn’t see him as good enough for the Premier League, what is the guarantee that he is good enough for it now?
The intensity of the games in England is different and obviously superior to the level that Mari has been playing before now.
I expect Mari to be a success in England, but he has to prove that within the next six months before Arsenal can sign him permanently.
Hopefully, the 26-year-old will have developed his game to such an extent that he hits the ground running but in this instance, a loan deal seems to me to be the best solution for all parties.
An article by Ime