Pablo Mari is set to join Monza on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent move. The Spanish defender's move includes an obligation to be made into a €7m transfer at the end of next season on the proviso that Monza are able to avoid relegation from Serie A football.london understands.
The two clubs had been in talks for some days over a move, with the option to turn it into a permanent transfer being the main sticking point. But now that an agreement has been reached, Mari, who arrived in Italy yesterday ahead of the move, will become a Monza player.
The 28-year-old became Mikel Arteta's first signing when he arrived from Flamengo in January 2020. Since then he has gone on to make 22 appearances for Arsenal, scoring once.
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The Spaniard had established himself as an important part of the Gunners squad during the 2020/21 season and started both legs of the club's Europa League semi-final defeat to Villarreal. However, after the arrival of Ben White and with the lack of European football, he found game time hard to come by and was loaned out to Udinese for the second half of the campaign.
Mari enjoyed his time in Italy and admitted that staying in Serie A was his preference for the coming season earlier this year. "It's the right league for me," he said earlier this year. "Very tactical. I try to bring the attacker towards me. I really like having the ball and here it can be done and then there is the battle and I like having a battle on the pitch."
The Spaniard has two years remaining on his contract, but with the return of William Saliba this summer and the presence of Gabriel, Rob Holding and Ben White ahead of him in the pecking order it appears once again unlikely that he would have got much game time if he were to stay in North London. Now the 28-year-old will get his wish of a return to Italy where Monza begin their Serie A campaign on Saturday.
Arsenal are hopeful that Mari's exit will herald the first of many this summer as Edu seeks to trim down Mikel Arteta's squad. football.london understands that Runar Alex Runarsson is edging closer towards a move to Turkey although the deal is far from complete at the time of writing, while the club are willing to listen to offers for Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson.
The Gunners would also like to avoid another contract termination in order to secure a fee for Hector Bellerin, but as things stand that option hasn't been ruled out, with Real Betis keen to make his loan from last season a permanent deal. They also remain hopeful of completing more incoming deals before the transfer window closes on September 1st.
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