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Football London
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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Surprise name to save Arsenal millions this summer as Mikel Arteta discovers his dream defender

Here's all the news from around the Emirates Stadium over the past 24 hours.

Pablo Mari developing into Mikel Arteta's dream defender

Pablo Mari is slowly developing into one of Mikel Arteta's most trustworthy centre backs.

In the 10 games where he has played the full 90 minutes since his arrival from Flamengo last January, Arsenal have lost just once, and recently he has been able to dislodge the seemingly Gabriel from the Premier League lineup having started the last three games in succession.

Arteta's faith in the Spaniard is being justified, as the 27-year-old is one of the Gunners' loudest communicators, seeking to orchestrate the manner with which they play out from the back.

This could be seen just before the mistake Granit Xhaka made during the 1-1 draw against Burnley.

MIKEL ARTETA SAYS ARSENAL HEADS CANNOT DROP AFTER ERRORS LEADING TO GOALS

As Bernd Leno plays the ball out to the Swiss midfielder, Mari can be heard shouting "David, David" and seen gesturing over to his central defensive partner David Luiz who is on for the first time pass on the right-hand side of the box.

While the error will of course have frustrated Arteta, he would have been pleased to see Mari encouraging his teammates to continue to play out from the back.

It may come as a surprise to some, but Mari is developing into Arteta's dream defender.

Read more.

Unexpected name to save Arsenal millions

It would appear that Mikel Arteta and Edu's summer transfer targets are starting to take shape.

One position that the Gunners continue to be linked with strengthening is on the right side of their central defence, with RB Leipzig's Ibrahima Konate the most recent named tipped for a move.

Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi have already left in recent months while David Luiz is set to depart when his contract expires. With the futures of William Saliba and Dinos Mavropanos also up in the air, it's safe to say it's uncertain who will be competing with Rob Holding for that spot in the Gunners' back four next season.

On Saturday against Burnley though, the unexpected return of a forgotten man may well have altered Arteta's plans.

Calum Chambers was drafted into the side for his first start since tearing his ACL against Chelsea in December 2019 and after being chosen to play at right-back, put in a fine performance for someone who had been out for so long.

But as a homegrown squad player, who is versatile enough to play multiple positions with proven quality at Premier League level, Chambers could end up saving Arsenal millions this summer.

Full story.

Ex-referee explains controversial VAR decision

The dust hasn't settled on the controversial VAR decision that has affected Arsenal against Burnley.

Nicolas Pepe felt he should have won a penalty for the Gunners when the ball hit Erik Pieters on the arm, but following a VAR review the decision was made to not award a spot-kick.

While admitting that the Clarets defender was fortunate, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has offered Arsenal fans an explanation as to why a penalty was not awarded.

"I think they went on the proximity. You can see how close the player is," he told Sky Sports. "What I would say is Pieters runs a massive risk because we all know if you put your arm out like that, you are very likely to give a penalty away. If the penalty was given, I don't think he could have too many complaints.

"The confusion is because it is subjective. You are asking 18 different individuals in the Premier League to make a decision on something they see with the different directives. Is it close? Has it come up off the body? Are the arms in an unnatural position? What is an unnatural position?

"Moving forward next season, we will still have problems because it will still remain a subjective decision. There is no hard and fast way of saying, yes, that's a penalty or that's not a penalty. It really falls down to the individual on the day."

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