Turkish giants Fenerbahce have reportedly made contact with Arsenal over a summer move for 28-year-old Spanish defender Pablo Mari.
According to reputed Italian journalist Rudy Galetti, Fenerbahce have emerged as a likely destination for Arsenal defender Pablo Mari. The Turkish giants have reportedly made contact with the Gunners to discuss a potential summer move for the 28-year-old Spaniard.
A former Manchester City player, Mari joined Arsenal in the 2020 January transfer window from Flamengo on an initial six-month loan before the move was made permanent ahead of the 2020/21 season. The centre-back, however, struggled to break into the Arsenal starting lineup, making just 22 appearances for the north London club across two seasons.
He was sent out on a short loan deal to Udinese earlier this year, and the 28-year-old played regularly for the Serie A club, making 15 Serie A appearances for them. Even with four years remaining on his contract with Arsenal, Mari does not feature in Mikel Arteta’s plans and is set to permanently leave the club this summer.
The Spanish defender has attracted attention from multiple quarters, including a host of Serie A clubs following his performance in Italy in the second half of the 2021/22 season. Arsenal have reportedly placed a €15 million price tag on Mari seeing the heavy interest that he is generating.
?? #Fenerbahce made first contact with #Arsenal for Pablo #Mari.
↩️ The ?? centre-back could leave #AFC permanently during this transfer market session. ?⚽#Transfers #Calciomercato pic.twitter.com/FhMhBoc7Qe
— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) July 22, 2022
Fenerbahce also emerged as a potential target and were first linked with the 28-year-old defender earlier this month. The Turkish giants have been quick to make a move and as per Rudy Galetti, have now initiated discussions with Arsenal over a possible summer move.
The Italian journalist has added in his report that Mari will leave the Gunners this summer on a permanent move. Arteta currently has Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Rob Holding in the central defensive department.
Arsenal were reportedly interested in signing Argentine centre-back Lisandro Martinez from Ajax, but the player chose to join Manchester United instead to play under his former manager Erik ten Hag. Arsenal have so far made five signings in the ongoing transfer window in the form of Gabriel Jesus, Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
