ESPN Brasil managed to make an exclusive interview with Arsenal defender Pablo Mari this week.
With the player being loaned by Flamengo until the end of the season, most of the chat was about his successful spell in Brazilian football, and the titles he won with the club.
But there’s something else from Mari’s past which also had a big part in the interview. That’s the time he belonged to Manchester City.
Signed from Gimnastic in 2016, Mari was a Manchester City player for three years. During that time he was loaned to Girona, NAC Breda and Deportivo La Coruña.
Asked if he has any hard feelings at never playing for Pep Guardiola’s side, the defender denies it, saying the plans have been pretty clear from the beginning.
“Well, from the beginning the contract was always in a way that I would always be loaned. So from the beginning it was clear to both them and me. Of course, you always create the wish of someday being able to play with them, this is normal. But there’s no frustration at all,” Pablo Mari told ESPN Brasil.
“In the three years I was at City, they treated me wonderfully, I was very happy with them, everyone tried to help me with the best option where I could go, where I was going to play, where was comfortable for both me and my family. At City I was very happy. The City stage is over, and now I’m at Arsenal, who I just joined, and I’m equally happy.”
Pablo Mari has also been asked if there’s any Premier League player he admires, and made big compliments to Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk.
“One case that is drawing my attention a lot is that of Van Dijk. I believe he’s a reference for any defender in the world. I think we can have him as a goal, come to one day be like him. It’s very difficult, because he is a great player, one of the best defenders in the world, it’s very difficult to reach his level. But why not fight every day and have this ambition to become like him? I will have the possibility to face him. I played against him at the Club World Cup final and it was a real pleasure. Being in the same league as the best is a very positive thing.”
