After an announcement was made on the club’s official Twitter account, Arsenal have confirmed the loan signing of 26-year-old Pablo Mari from Flamengo, which is also new manager Mikel Arteta’s first signing at the club.

It is understood that the loan deal does also include an option to buy in the summer.

Arsenal have been in dire need of defensive cover as their current defenders have struggled for form this season, with summer signing David Luiz being nothing short of disappointing for the north London-based club so far.

This, however, will come as a surprise to some, as Arsenal is not Mari’s first English club.

He was signed by Manchester City back in 2016, but did not make an appearance for them. Instead, he was shipped out on loan to Girona, NAC Breda and Deportivo La Coruna.

Mari was then sold to Flamengo last year and now the Spaniard makes his return to English football

Mari was a key part in the Flamengo side which recently won the 2019 Copa Libertadores, which meant they gained entry to the FIFA Club World Cup.

They made the final of the competition, in a game that Mari starred in against current Champions League winners Liverpool.

After Shkodran Mustafi became Arsenal’s latest centre half to be injured, spraining his ankle during the club’s latest game against Bournemouth, Arteta was left short of options at the heart of his defence.

This comes after Mustafi joins the injury list alongside Calum Chambers, who is out for the rest of the season with a cruciate knee ligament injury. Also, Rob Holding is struggling to return to his best form after suffering an identical injury to Chambers, which ruled him out for nine months.

This means we could see Mari make his debut for the Gunners very soon.

Mari had arrived in London on Saturday, alongside Arenal’s technical director Edu, however, returned to Brazil shortly after, which led to speculation that the deal had broke down.

Despite speculation, talks resumed this week, and although Flamengo were reported to be unhappy with Arsenal wanting a loan with option to buy deal, they have now reached a compromise and Mari will join Arsenal for at least the remainder of the season.