Arsenal near deal for Flamengo’s Pablo Mari as defender lands in London for medical [Video]

Flamengo’s Spanish defender Pablo Mari is nearing a deal to join Arsenal pending a medical, ESPN Brasil reports.

According to the report, the 26-year-old Mari arrived in London on Friday, where he will be on the verge of joining the Premier League side.

Arsenal correspondent for Goal, Charles Watts shared a video of Mari’s arrival on his verified Twitter page on Saturday afternoon.

Watts tweeted:

“Pablo Mari has just arrived at Heathrow with Edu and he tell me he is excited to be joining Arsenal. Medical to take place this weekend.”

Mari has been with the Brazilian giants since July 2019, and was instrumental in the Rubro-Negro winning the domestic and Copa Libertadores crowns.

He also featured for Flamengo in their run at the Club World Cup, where they lost to European champions Liverpool in added extra time.

Mari, who was on Manchester City’s books from 2016-2019, was previously at Deportivo La Coruna before his stint in Brazil.

Should his transfer to Arsenal be finalised, he’ll compete for playing time in Arsenal’s backline that features Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Shkodran Mustafi, and David Luiz.

Sources have told ESPN that Arsenal remain interested in Paris Saint-Germain full-back Layvin Kurzawa, but the French champions may instead send him to Juventus in exchange for Mattia De Sciglio.

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