Arsenal’s 9 Central Defenders Since Gabriel Paulista – Ranked

5. Pablo Mari

How do you judge someone who has barely kicked a ball for the club? Answer: cautiously.

Parting with an initial loan fee, and then a further sum to make make the deal permanent, all we know about Pablo Mari stems from two 90 minute outings in which he kept clean sheets, and then the 24-minute cameo against Manchester City were he suffered his injury setback.

All in all, not a lot. He looked comfortable against Portsmouth, a tad off the pace against West Ham and hopelessly out of his depth against City. A mixed bag, it’s fair to say.

Only time will tell, but Arteta clearly favours his fellow countryman. Can’t see him starting games outside of domestic cup competitions, however.