Pablo Mari joined Arsenal last January on loan from Flamengo, and the Gunners are expected to make a permanent decision on the Spaniard this coming summer. Reports said Mikel Arteta has made up his mind and Mari will be hired as a full member of the team roster.

Supposedly, a notice has been sent to Flamengo that Mari will transition from loan to permanent status. Arsenal will sign the defender to a £13.5 million contract that will make an official part of the club. Essentially, the Gunners are exercising an option to buy Marr's contract that amounted to £4 million as agreed in the original deal.

According to Metro, the agreement also promised incentives to the 26-year-old that will be made available depending on his performance.

Since moving to the Emirates, Mari has yet to feature in a regular Arsenal game but was part of the Under-23 squad that faced off with Chelsea recently. The gradual integration was designed to make the center back more prepared and be in top form before suiting up with the regular squad.

The wait though, will not be too long for Mari as the sudden decision to make him a regular signified that the Arsenal backroom had been impressed with his showing so far. In particular, Arteta is convinced that the new hire will prove a good fit for the Gunners roster.

Team Talk said the decision to make Mari permanent was arrived at following the defender's performance with the Under-23 team against Chelsea. The Spanish boss liked what he saw with Mari in the game.

Specifically, Arteta was impressed with the attitude and commitment shown by the defender.

"He did really well the other day and hopefully we can start to use him soon," the team boss was reported as saying.

Arteta noted that before joining up with the Gunners, Mari was sidelined for quite some time, so it was expected that the player would take time to get his rhythm back. But he proved focused on playing and made significant impressions.

"When he joined the club he hadn't played for a long time and he had a little niggle as well when he joined us, but his attitude and commitment has been really, really good and highly surprising," the head coach said.

It is expected that many in the Arsenal community will raise questions on the decision made by Arteta, possibly arguing that the club should have pursued talents with proven capabilities. However, the new manager has a track record of spotting unproven talents that later on turned gold, and it is hoped that the same would apply to Mari.