Britain may have left
Europe yesterday, but Europe is still very much coming to Arsenal, in
the form of Spanish central defender Pablo Mari and Portugese full
back Cedric Soares.
Much was lauded over
Arsenal's big summer spending, but very little of that spending was
on defenders, who have been desperately needed by the Gunners for so
long. To some extent, that has been rectified in the January transfer
window, with the arrival of Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari.
Cedric Soares, a
proven Premier League defender
Cedric Soares is a
proven Premier League defender, having made more than 100 appearances
since joining Southampton in 2015. He is a much needed back up to
Hector Bellerin, who has suffered frequent injuries in recent times.
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, said: "He
knows the league and he doesn't really need to adapt so I'm very
pleased. We were short at right-back, we've had some big issues in
that position before. We only have two players there and
Maitland-Niles isn't really a right back and Hector [Bellerin] has
had injuries so to bring in a player of that quality wasn't easy."
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| Pablo Mari, a 6’3" defender |
Pablo Mari is a 6’3" defender, who became a hero
at NAC Breda, in the Dutch Eredivise, scoring in a match against
Heerenveen, which lifted his side out of the drop zone and secured
three of the four points that they needed for survival. Mari captained the
Dutch club in his spell there and was in the team of the month,
twice, during his time in the Eredivisie. He then moved to Deportivo
La Coruna, where he was ranked as the most accurate passer in their
division.
At Flamengo, Pablo Mari won Brazil’s Serie A and
Copa Libertadores last season. He is the first Spanish player to have
won the Copa Libertadores.
Both players have been signed on loan, with an
option to buy, should they prove as successful as Arsenal would hope.
Arsenal's summer signings have not covered
themselves with glory, with the notable exception of Gabriel
Martinelli, who has scored 10 goals in 22 appearances, since his
arrival. But Nicolas Pépé
has not been able to transfer his Ligue 1 form to the Premier
League, David Luiz has proven as unreliable as many expected, Kieran
Tierney has been almost permanently injured and Dani Ceballos, who has
had his moments, may be too slow for Arteta's style of play.
Cedric and Pablo Mari, may not be the marquee
style names that some Arsenal fans are looking for, but they they are
experienced players in the positions where Arsenal need improvement
most. Let's hope that they can flourish at the Gunners, under Mikel
Arteta's leadership.
