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Arsenal have completed the signing of Spanish defender Pablo Mari from Flamengo, the Premier League giants confirmed on Wednesday.
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Mari becomes Mikel Arteta's first signing as Arsenal manager
The 26-year-old has signed a loan deal with the Gunners until the end of the season, which will include an option to make the move permanent in the summer, although an obligation clause will not be included.
The centre-back arrived at north London alongside Arsenal technical director Edu on Saturday to undergo a medical but returned to Brazil the following day after the two clubs failed to agree on the terms of his move. However, the transfer appeared to be back on track when a breakthrough was made in negotiations on Tuesday evening.
The English giants are believed to have agreed to pay a loan fee of £4.25 million to sign Mari, who spent three seasons at Manchester City between 2016 and 2019.
Speaking upon the announcement, Mari said,
"When I spoke to my agent, it was a big thing that Arsenal were interested in me. This is one of the best clubs in the world, so I’m absolutely delighted to be joining. I’m really looking forward to playing in this jersey and helping my team.
"The conversations started a couple of weeks ago. Arsenal told us that they were interested. We’d just won everything with Flamengo – I won the league and the Copa Libertadores and was also named best centre-back in America, so that will have helped Arsenal notice me. It’s a great achievement for me to come to Arsenal and it all happened in basically two weeks."
The defender added,
"I’m kind of used to [all the media attention the move has received] from Brazil, where the fans are really passionate about Flamengo," he added. "I’m used to a lot of media interest so I know what to expect when joining a big club like this one. It’s a normal thing for me now."
Mari is the first new addition of the Mikel Arteta era and it remains to be seen if he will make his debut for the club when they face Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday.
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