Talk of Arsenal defender Pablo Mari moving to Gremio ‘came as a surprise’ at the Emirates with director of football Edu Gaspar, who is unaware of such interest.
Mari is currently spending the season on loan with Italian side Monza, who he joined in the summer in search of regular first team football.
He’s made eight appearances for them in Serie A so far and is likely to add to that tally before the end of the season.
Whether he remains with the Italian side, who have an option to sign him permanently, remains to be seen, or returns to Arsenal, where his contract doesn’t expire until 2024.
He has been linked with a move to Brazil, with a recent report stating that Gremio are looking at a possible deal and he has been offered to them.
That, according to Torcedores, ‘came as a surprise’ to Arsenal’s director of football Edu Gaspar who guarantees he has ‘not received any enquiry, probe or proposal’ for the player.
The outlet also refers to AC Talent Sports and businessman Arturo Canales, who says that the Gremio never reached out to any agency about the player and there is no person accredited to represent the defender in South America.
The whole affair has been put down as a ‘miscommunication’, although Gremio were excited about the idea of a one-year loan deal. They never pursued it because Mari never showed an interest.
The Arsenal defender prefers to stay in Europe and has no plans to leave the continent at this moment in time, particularly as he is happy at Monza for the time being.
He and his family have fully adapted to life in Italy and don’t want to leave for Brazil now, with that very much a move he’s eyeing in future instead.
In other words, talk about Gremio can be put to one side for the time being, with the defender happy where he is and Arsenal never receiving any kind of contact from the Brazilian side anyway.
