A.C. Monza will cover Pablo Mari’s full salary for the coming season, confirming their initial loan deal for the player on Thursday.

A.C. Monza confirm the signing of Pablo Mari (Photo via A.C. Monza)
A.C. Monza confirm the signing of Pablo Mari (Photo via A.C. Monza)

Arsenal and A.C. Monza brought an end to the speculation around Pablo Mari’s immediate future on Thursday, confirming he will spend the season on loan with the Serie A club.

Fabrizio Romano reports that Monza will cover Mari’s entire salary for the coming campaign, after which they’ll sign the defender permanently if they remain in the Italian top division.

Monza have confirmed that they have an obligation to buy if certain conditions are met, though they don’t specify the conditions or the size of the fee.

There’s some debate on the fee, with Italian sources Luca Bendoni and Romano reporting it will be around €5-6m whilst English sources like Sam Dean, Kaya Kaynak, and Ryan Taylor have it at around €7m (£6m).

That’s not a huge disparity, and we can at least be pretty sure the figure will be somewhere in the £4-6m range.

FLORENCE, ITALY: Pablo Mari' of Udinese Calcio celebrates after scoring a goal during the Serie A match between ACF Fiorentina and Udinese Calcio at Stadio Artemio Franchi on April 27, 2022. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)
FLORENCE, ITALY: Pablo Mari of Udinese Calcio celebrates after scoring a goal during the Serie A match between ACF Fiorentina and Udinese Calcio at Stadio Artemio Franchi on April 27, 2022. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

Mari has already shown he can have an impact in Serie A, making 15 appearances for Udinese last season after joining them towards the end of the January window.

Now he has the task of keeping Monza up and joining them on a permanent basis.

The centre-back will wear the number three with his new club for the coming season.