Following the recent rumours regarding the future of Arsenal defender Pablo Mari, we continue to see the South American media turning those stories down.
It all started with first reports saying Brazilian clubs had been in touch for the player, as they had all been ‘monitoring’ him during his loan spell at Italian club Monza.
The weird thing about this story has always been that his spell in Serie A could actually become a permanent move. Because in case Monza avoid relegation, they’re expected to be forced to buy him from Arsenal.
So the news about a move to Brazil started being ruled out. It was first Torcedores who had that information about Grêmio’s interest turned down by the player’s agent and even by Gunners’ director Edu Gaspar, who took the news as a ‘surprise’.
He said: “I checked with someone from São Paulo if Mari had any chance of being signed, the answer was ‘none’. So then I asked if there was at least one contact, a survey, if anyone offered Mari. The person said that he is unaware of such information, he does not see any possibility of Pablo Mari leaving Italian football at that moment to come and play in Brazilian football.
“A player whose salary is completely unrealistic in our football, especially because there he earns in euros, here he would have to come back to earn in reais.”
So Mari shall continue his loan spell at Monza, and as they currently stand on the 15th position, that could mean they’ll have to buy him from Arsenal at the end of the season, as per a clause in the deal agreed in the summer.
