Arsenal suffer huge blow with Pablo Mari ruled out for the season with serious ankle injury

Arsenal have been dealt a huge blow with the confirmation that centre-back Pablo Mari has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. 

The defender sustained serious damage to his ankle ligament in the 3-0 defeat by Manchester City on Wednesday night.  

It was only Mari’s third game for the club but he is set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines and surgery may be required. 

Mikel Arteta spoke out in defence of David Luiz but Pablo Mari is out for the season 

The defender suffered a serious ankle injury early in the defeat by Manchester City 

The Flamengo loanee pulled up while chasing Kyle Walker down the right flank in the first half and was forced off in the 22nd minute. 

Granit Xhaka was another to go off injured at the Etihad after a collision with his own team-mate Mateo Guendouzi but the midfielder could return before the end of the season.       

Mari was replaced by David Luiz on Wednesday and the Brazilian went on to have a nightmare. He was at fault for Raheem Sterling’s opener before hauling down Riyad Mahrez in the box, conceding a penalty and picking up a red card. 

Luiz was given his marching orders for a foul on Riyad Mahrez in the box on Wednesday night

Despite the calamitous performance, Mikel Arteta backed the centre-back in his pre-Brighton press conference on Thursday. 

He said: ‘You heard what he said, he was very direct with us too. That is what I value from him and that is what I like from him. We need to be fair on him.

‘He is very open, he is a leader and I was sure he was going to speak in front of everybody. 

‘Me personally I am going to defend him with everything I have because I believe in him. He has shown me a lot of things in his time here and his career speaks for itself.’

He went on to reflect on Wednesday’s defeat: ‘I think emotionally it’s very difficult to delete it [the loss] it’s what we have to do. 

‘It was a very accidental game right when we lost Granit straight away, losing Pablo and then the way we conceded the first and the second goal, against this type of opposition this makes life almost impossible.

Luiz’s future with Arsenal is up in the air and Arteta does not know what will happen

‘There are things to learn, obviously that we cannot not consider to keep evolving in what we are trying to do but as well we have to be open and analyse the game as it went.’

The Arsenal boss went on to admit the future of some of his squad, and dealings in the transfer market remain uncertain due to the uncertainty in the market. 

‘We cannot forget the financial situation,’ he continued. The way that COVID-19 and the economy in general, it’s going to have an impact. What the club is doing at the moment is assess the situation and try to clarify a lot of uncertainties we have in the future and we have to make big decisions.

‘But time-wise it’s difficult to fit them in our needs. We are trying our best, the club is trying their best and it’s difficult because it puts the player or our sporting necessities in a difficult situation but again, we have to adapt.

‘It’s what it is and that’s why I wanted to protect David on Wednesday, that’s why I didn’t start him but it’s a funny game, after 20 minutes you need him and he’s a player who has been with a lot of uncertainty in the last few weeks.’