Arsenal have officially completed the signing of Pablo Mari. The Flamengo defender becomes the first signing for the Gunners in this winter transfer window. He has joined on a short-term loan deal, though Arsenal hold the option of making the deal permanent in the summer.
Why Mari could be vital for Arsenal
The arrival of Mari could serve as a sigh of relief for Mikel Arteta, who was keen on signing a new defender in this January transfer window. Indeed, the Arsenal boss lacked reinforcements in the defensive department, with Sokratis and David Luiz struggling with lack of consistency.
Rob Holding, meanwhile, missed a majority of the campaign due to an injury while Calum Chambers has recently picked up an ACL injury that will sideline him for a considerable amount of time. Mari, in that regard, should provide competition for the likes of Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis, Rob Holding and David Luiz.
If we consider the fact that Arsenal will compete in the Europa League in this second half of the campaign, this added depth in defence could be useful for Arteta, in terms of squad rotation.
How can he fit into the Arsenal lineup?
Mari can be considered as an alternative to Sokratis. A tall, no-nonsense centre-back, who, standing at 1.93m, can be an intimidating presence in the backline. His aerial and physical prowess could be ideally suited to the physically astute nature of the Premier League, thus making him a lot similar to the Greek international.
Alternatively, Arteta can also deploy Mari ahead of Luiz in central defence. The presence of two robust defenders in Sokratis and Mari should add more solidity to the backline. But, to compensate for Luiz’s excellent long passing ability, he has to deploy Granit Xhaka as the lone holding midfielder, in a 4-1-4-1.
Did Arsenal need to sign another defender?
Mari comes with a lot of promise, having performed well during his time at Flamengo. But, he still has minimal experience in European football. And that could pose question marks as to whether or not the defender will manage to integrate himself to the fast-paced nature of the Premier League.
With that in mind, it would perhaps have been wiser for Arsenal to sign another defender. Although that would have been rather difficult with only a few days left before the closure of the winter transfer window, the Gunners could have tried offloading Mustafi. This should have allowed them to fund the move for a potential replacement. However, now with the transfer official, Arteta needs to hope that his gamble pays off.
