Arsenal: Pablo Mari patience not like other signings

Mikel Arteta has stated that Pablo Mari is nearing readiness to feature. Because the Arsenal defender is on loan, patience regarding his settling in is unlike other signings.

When signing players from other countries, it is always important to recognise that they will have a sometimes lengthy bedding-in period. Adapting to the Premier League and English football is not easy, especially if you have never played in the league beforehand.

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This is the process, for instance, that Nicolas Pepe is still going through. Many players before him had undertaken the same settling period, some more quickly than others, but it takes time to get used to the unique English game.

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However, while patience is necessary with signings like Pepe, who are long-term investments that should produce over many years, loan signings have a very different aim, and thus, the willingness to be wait is not so great.

This January, Arsenal signed Pablo Mari on a six-month loan deal as an emergency solution to their ever-growing centre-back problems. Calum Chambers will miss the remainder of the season, David Luiz, Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi are inconsistent, and Rob Holding is still yet to prove his match fitness.

But while Pepe’s first season is somewhat of a write-off, for Mari to be a valuable signing, he must make a positive impact from the moment he steps onto the pitch. That is, after all, the entire point of a loan transfer.

This week, during the training camp in Dubai, head coach Mikel Arteta explained that Mari is nearing readiness to feature:

"“With Pablo a little bit more than Cedric, but we have to go step by step. He is a new player and I am sure he is very excited and wants to prove everything in three days, so we have to manage him wisely.”"

That is obviously very positive news. Arsenal need him. Mari’s immediate availability is what will make him a successful acquisition. That he can start from day one and play regularly is critical to his value — this, incidentally, is a major reason why some fans are more aggrieved at the Cedric Soares deal, given that the full-back arrived in a knee brace.

Unlike with Pepe and many other permanent signings, Mari will not be given the luxury of time. The nature of his signing — a loan deal to solve an immediate problem that will not be as pressing in six months time — defines as much.

This is the inherent risk of acquiring a foreign player on loan. They take time to adapt, but there is no time to give. Let’s hope that Mari, then, can buck the trend.