Pablo Mari expressed his delight at making his first appearance in Arsenal colours and vowed to "keep working hard" after featuring for the club's Under-23 side against Chelsea.
Mari joined the Gunners from Brazilian side Flamengo on an initial six-month loan deal in January for a fee of around £4milllion.
Although he is yet to feature for Mikel Arteta's first team, the Spanish centre-back got his career in North London up and running in the Premier League 2 clash at Meadow Park on Monday night.
The 26-year-old played 45 minutes alongside Rob Holding as the young Arsenal team were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea and took to social media the following morning to express his happiness.
"Great feelings during my first minutes in Arsenal colours yesterday!" Mari wrote on Twitter. "Keep working hard!"
Arsenal got off to a strong start against their London rivals, with Folarin Balogun curling in an opener after 16 minutes.
However, Chelsea were soon back on level terms after Armando Broja headed in an equaliser at the near post just after the half hour mark.
Highly-rated midfielder Billy Gilmour then scored the decisive goal on the stroke of half-time, at which stage Mari and Holding were withdrawn before a goalless second half.
Speaking during the winter break, Arteta suggested the former Manchester City product will be gradually eased into the side while the club confirmed he is back in full training.
Although Mari missed his side's dominant 4-0 win against Newcastle over the weekend, the Arsenal boss indicated that the defender could be involved during Thursday's Europa League match at Olympiacos.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's victory, Arteta said: "Pablo hasn't competed since the end of December.
"He had a little issue. He's been training with us the last week or so in and out a little bit. He's been looking good.
"I think this game will come a little bit too early for him but I expect him to start joining the squad in the next week or so."
