Arsenal gets their man, so who’s next?

It has been officially confirmed by the Arsenal Football Club that Pablo Mari has been signed on loan until the end of the season with an option for the Gunners to buy permanently in the summer. Finally, with 100% confidence, we can breath a little easier as the Spaniard’s signing will be a huge bonus for our club’s defensive capabilities. It has looked like the deal stalled yesterday, however, the two clubs were able to reach an agreement to bring Mari to north London.

The 26-year-old comes from Flamengo in Brazil where he played against Liverpool in the Club World Cup final in December. Mari was also acquainted with Mikel Arteta while under contract with Manchester City. Although Mari never playing a single game for City, Arteta kept tabs on the defender while Pablo was out on loan to various clubs.

Along with getting a lot of frequent flyer miles the past few days between Rio and London, Mari will have some additional time to settle in with his new club. Following Sunday’s game, Arteta and the lads head to Dubai for some warm weather training during the winter break. Mari will have the opportunity to adjust to his new team on that trip.

Mari said after signing his loan deal today, “I’m happy to be here today and to have signed for a big club. I’m going to do my best to help my teammates and the club. I’m a very professional player. I like working hard every day to achieve objectives. One thing I can control is working hard on a daily basis to help my teammates to win football matches and repay the faith that Mikel and Arsenal have shown me by signing me to play here, so that’s my main objective. I want to take it one day at a time and achieve big things at Arsenal.”

Welcome aboard, Pablo!

So, who’s next? Well, according to the Daily Mail, the Gunners are looking at Southampton defender Cedric Soares as a potential loan deal as well, along with Ukranian Mykola Matvienko. Media outlet Star Sports reports Arsenal already has a deal in place for the 23-year-old defender. The Ukrainian currently plays for Shakhtar Donetsk.

The list keeps getting longer and the clock is ticking…TICK…TICK…TICK.

Cheers. Gunner1953