The hot-blooded football player Pablo Mari playing under Flamengo currently is in the process of joining the Arsenal club. After showcasing his moves at the Club World Cup Finals, the star footballer gained a score with Arsenal to play under The Premier League club. Mikel Arteta, the former soccer player, and the newly appointed manager for Arsenal is planning to sign Mari as his first act at his job. It is also said in the recent media reports, that the player is joining on loan and will possibly become the permanent player in the near future according to the signed agreement. Mari has earned quite a limelight and is known to play with the perfect combination of physical prowess and tactical skills on the ground. But why is Mikel and Arsenal so eager to bring Pablo into their team? Once given a glance at his sporting history, one would be able to somewhat understand why top clubs of the Football Association want Pablo to play for them.
More about Pablo Mari:
Full name Pablo Mari Villar is a 26-year-old Spanish footballer hailing from Almussafes, Spain. He started his football career at the age of 17 years old by debuting as a senior in the third division of Real Mallorca which is a Spanish professional football club. Mari made his first-team debut by playing against Granada CF in the December 2011 season. With the purpose of playing regularly, Pablo joined another Spanish sports club commonly known as Gimnastic Tarragona in the early September of 2013. Although he debuted for Catalans under Gimnastic in October of 2013, Mari scored his first goal against Levante UD B in December of the same year. After almost playing for 3 years with Gimanstic, Pablo was then scouted by Pep Guardiola to sign under Manchester City in the late summer of 2016. The very next day of signing the contract, Manchester city loaned him to Girona, thereby giving him a chance to only play a few games in the 2016/17 season.
Highlights of Pablo’s football career:
Pablo also made a captain debut while playing for about a year with NAC Breda, a professional football club based in the Netherlands. Later, he also participated as an active team member while playing for a second division club in Spain named Deportiva La Coruna. Dissatisfied with his progress in Manchester City, Pablo Mari left the club and went ahead to join Flamengo on a long-term basis. He quickly gained recognition as a top player in the Brazilian club after playing about 22 matches with them and helping the Flamingo to bag the Brazilian Serie a title in 2019. It is during this year that he became the first Spaniard to win the highest level of competition i.e. Copa Libertadores in the South American Football club.
Mari gained interest in Mikel Arteta after scoring a striking win in the Club World Cup Finals. He signed the agreement to join Arsenal on loan in the Emirates Stadium with the open thought of staying in the club for a long time by making his position permanent in the later summer. Despite his intention, Mari has been restricted to make only two appearances for Arsenal. However, his signing of the contract to join permanently has been disrupted due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Why is Mari a key player to watch out for?
Pablo Mari holds the position of left-footed center-back in the team. He is skilled with his defenses during the game and has got some spectacular moves with the ball. His level of playing abilities often becomes the subject of comparison with Barcelona’s Gerard Pique due to a few similar playing techniques between the two. He also attracts many eyes to himself with his height of six foot three inches while he is on the ground. This helps him to intimidate his opponents on the field. However, above all his skills, he has one setback and that is his lack of speed. But Mari can cover this flaw with his quick intellectual instincts to read plays well.
