Footie Central | Football Blog Blogging the football world
Arsenal defender Pablo Mari has agreed a deal to join Serie A side Monza.
The newly promoted club, who are owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlosconi will take the Spaniard on loan for the coming season. However, the agreement between the clubs includes an obligation to make the move permanent if they manage to avoid relegation at the end of the campaign.
This will be the first time that Monza have ever played in the top flight of Italian football, but they have strengthened their squad already by signing the likes of Stefano Sensi and Andrea Ranocchia from Inter Milan, both of whom have played for the Italian national team.
Mari is familiar with Serie A having spent last season on loan with Udinese, where he did well, but they could not afford to extend his stay with them.
Pro temps Arsenal will receive a loan fee, and they have also got his wages off their books.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.