Pablo Mari would apparently prefer a move to a club in Europe rather than returning home to Flamengo.

Pablo Mari vanished for a large chunk of this season and nobody seemed to notice.

The defender has played just 270 minutes this season, prior to the FA Cup third round tie at Nottingham Forest, and it seems his time at the club is all but over.

Mari, who is still only 28, signed for Arsenal from Flamengo for a crazy £7.2m loan fee before Arsenal paid another £5.4m for him, even though he has never been valued at more than £6.3m.

Flamengo have been heavily linked with a move for the player they sold to Arsenal for a total of £12.6m, but his wages were always going to cause a problem.

Hence the player eyeing up a move to another European club rather than a return to Brazil.

While Mikel Arteta has undergone a clearout of Unai Emery players, Mari was someone brought to the club under the watch of Arteta, even if Edu was more involved than the Spaniard.

Still, many eyebrows were raised when Arsenal paid such a large fee for Mari and his return on the pitch has proven the eyebrows correct.

An ankle injury ruled him out for 31 games in the 19/20 season while a calf problem kept him out of another six at the start of 2021.

In total, Mari has managed just 22 appearances for Arsenal, only 14 of which have been starts.

At the end of November, Brazilian reporter Gustavo Henrique claimed Flamengo insiders had made it clear to the reporter that they’re hoping to re-sign Pablo Mari from Arsenal.

Amid the speculation around Mari’s future, the Rio-based journalist claimed Flamengo want Mari back, but it’s not a simple deal.

Gustavo said: “I talked to an important person at the club who told me the following: ‘Gustavo, how can I say that Flamengo doesn’t want Pablo Mari’s return? It is evident that Flamengo wants to, but there are many details that need to be fixed for him to return.'”

It’s no real surprise to see conversations over Mari’s future beginning to happen.

As we covered, Mari is one of the players who has been almost completely excluded from Mikel Arteta’s squads for the last couple of months.

Mari’s last appearance in a Premier League squad was on September 18th against Burnley, and he’s only made one League Cup start against AFC Wimbledon since then.

The centre-back still has another three-and-a-half years on his contract, but it would be strange to see him sticking around much longer if the current situation continues.

Sampdoria and AC Milan are said to be considering him as an option and Arsenal are believed to be ready to sanction a move, especially on loan, this month.