Arsenal have moved quickly to strengthen their defence for the rest of the season after Spanish defender Pablo Mari agreed a deal to join the Gunners.

Pablo Mari is a key player for reigning Brazilian Serie A champions and COPA Libertadores title holders Flamengo who have an agreement in place with Arsenal for the Spanish centre back to join on loan till this summer.

The player touched down in London for his Arsenal medical earlier this weekend in the company of sporting director Edu.

Both Pablo Mari and Edu flew to London from Rio De Janiero in Brazil together.

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Pablo Mari was in the Premier League with Champions Manchester City before he completed a £1m transfer to Flamengo where he enhanced his reputation as a ball playing central defender.

He forged a very good centre back partnership with Rodrigo Ciao at Flamengo and that was instrumental to the end of their title drought in the COPA Libertadores as Flamengo won the competition for the first time in over three decades.

Flamengo also won the league title in the Brazilian top flight aided by the centre back pairing.

Arsenal XI with Pablo Mari in it is expected to be different a little bit with Sokratis Papasthathopoulos droppong out for him probably.

Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Pablo Mari, Sead Kolasinac; Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabriel Martinelli and Nicholas Pepe.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer don’t have the luxury of resting players ahead of the FA Cup fourth round clash with English League One side Tranmere Rovers who were responsible for the exit of a Premier League club in the last round.

Tranmere Rovers defeated Watford 2-1 at the same venue of their game with Manchester United later this weekend.

Watford manager Nigel Pearson made a lot of changes to his usual lineup for that game which was the replay of the FA Cup third round clash with their lower league opponents.

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Both teams had played out a 3-3 draw in the first game at Vicarage Road as Watford lost a three-goal lead in front of their home fans.

For Manchester United and Solskjaer, a win is almost non-negotiable after a very bad week which saw them lost 2-0 at the home of arch rivals and league leaders before being beaten by the same scoreline at home by Burnley who were able to achieve victory for the first time in over four decades.

There are injuries to several key players and Solskjaer is not expected to make much changes.

Possible Man United XI (4-3-3): Sergio Romero; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Eric Bailly, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw; Nemanja Matic, Fred, Juan Manuel Mata; Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Jesse Lingard.

Manchester United officials are confident that they will sign top transfer target Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon before the mid-season transfer window ends later this week.

The two clubs started negotiations for Bruno Fernandes at the start of this month and there’s little sign that a transfer fee would be reached by both parties until now. As a matter of fact, Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United had walked out of a possible deal recently after it was obvious that a transfer fee agreement is far from being reached.

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The latest development from The Sun disclosed that Sporting Lisbon have invited the Red Devils back to the negotiation table and that they are now willing to do a deal for the 25-year-old midfielder with the end of the current transfer window fast approaching.

Manchester United had earlier offered an initial fee of £42.5m plus £7.5m in add-ons to make it £50m in total though it was still far from the £68m asking price from Sporting Lisbon.

The Portuguese giants have now lowered their price to £60m which is £8m less than the previous asking price slapped on their star player.

Bruno Fernandes has been in sensational form for Sporting Lisbon since his transfer from Sampdoria two years ago.

25/01/20

Manchester United have missed out on the signing of Dani Olmo after the Spaniard left Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb to join German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig.

His transfer from Dinamo Zagreb to RB Leipzig was confirmed on Saturday.

The Spanish international has signed a contract that will run until 2024 at RB Leipzig who are at the top of the German Bundesliga.

RB Leipzig have a four-point advantage over Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the German Bundesliga summit.

Before his move to Germany, Dani Olmo scored eight goals in 19 appearances for Dinamo Zagreb who crashed out of this season’s Champions League at the group stage.

Dani Olmo scored against Manchester City during the 3-1 home defeat to the Premier League champions which confirmed their edit from the competition.

Manchester United were not the only club that missed out on the 23-year-old attacking midfielder.

The likes of Chelsea, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Barcelona were also linked with Dani Olmo before his transfer to RB Leipzig was confirmed.

RB Leipzig have moved swiftly to replace young French attacker Jean-Kevin Augustin who has joined English Championship outfit Leeds United on loan.

Dani Olmo scored his first goal for Spain during the European Championships qualifier against Malta last year.

25/01/20

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud is closing in on a transfer to Inter Milan in the Italian Serie A after the Nerazzurri finally agreed on a transfer fee for him to make the move before the winter window closes next week.

Inter Milan have been in negotiations with Premier League giants Chelsea over Giroud who’s keen to leave Stamford Bridge for more first-team opportunities so as to boost his chances of retaining his place in the starting XI for France.

According to respected Italian journalist Nicolo Schira, Inter Milan have made a breakthrough in their negotiations with Chelsea after several weeks and that they have agreed a fee of €5m plus €1.5m for Giroud.

The Frenchman would be expected to travel to Milan to complete the transfer to the San Siro where he would link up with former Arsenal teammates Alexis Sanchez.

Giroud and Sanchez played together at Arsenal for over three years before they signed for Chelsea and Manchester United respectively in the 2018 January winter transfer market.

Alexis Sanchez is at Inter Milan on a season-long loan deal from Manchester United until this summer.

For Olivier Giroud, he has already agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Inter Milan worth  €10m until 2022.

25/01/20

Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won’t be joining Spanish champions Barcelona this month according to the London Evening Standard.

Earlier reports had stated that Barcelona want to sign the Arsenal skipper on loan till this summer before they spend big on a striker like Lautaro Martinez who plays for Italian Serie A title contenders Inter Milan.

The above mentioned report stated that Barcelona are no longer interested in signing Aubameyang as they have concerns over his age (the Gabonese international will be 31 by June), the difficulty of doing a deal for him in the middle of the season.

Barcelona are looking for a new striker after Luis Suarez was ruled out for several months as a result of the knee injury he sustained earlier this month.

Luis Suarez has undergone knee surgery and rehabilitation will take close to four months.

Apart from Gunners skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Barcelona have been linked with Valencia and Spanish international striker Rodrigo Moreno who has a €60m release clause in his contract.

Valencia are open to the negotiation table for Rodrigo Moreno meaning that Barcelona can sign the striker for a lesser transfer fee than the release clause in his present deal with the Spanish Copa Del Rey holders.

25/01/20

Flamengo defender Pablo Mari is expected in London this weekend for his Arsenal medical after the two clubs agreed for the player to move back to the Premier League.

According to Arsenal correspondent for Goal Charles Watts, Pablo Mari will join the Gunners on loan for the remainder of this season with the option of a permanent transfer available this summer when his loan period at the Emirates Stadium comes to an end.

Pablo Mari was on the books at Premier League champions Manchester City for three years before his exit last summer.

The 26-year-old Spanish center-back was sent on loan to three different clubs during his time at Manchester City as he failed to register an appearance for the Citizens during his time with the club.

He was first sent on loan to feeder club Girona in Spain and then Dutch top-flight side NAC Breda before ending up at Deportivo La Coruna also in his native Spain.

Pablo Mari left Manchester City for Flamengo in the Brazilian Serie A at the start of this season for just £1m and went on to become a key player for the Brazilians whom he helped to win both the COPA Libertadores title and the league title.

25/01/20

Manchester United have returned to the negotiation table for Sporting Lisbon star Bruno Fernandes according to the London Evening Standard.

The deal was called off after the two clubs failed to agree a transfer fee for Bruno Fernandes and the latest development would be music to the ears of Manchester United fans who are desperate for quality signings.

Manchester United have not had the best of week after two successive defeats in the Premier League.

The Red Devils have not scored a goal or won a game since leading goalscorer Marcus Rashford suffered a back injury during the recent FA Cup third round replay with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Rashford has scored 19 goals this season and his impact has been missed by Manchester United who lost 2-0 to arch rivals and hosts Liverpool in the Premier League last weekend before losing by the same scoreline in the midweek league game at home to Burnley.

Manchester United are long-term admirers of Sporting Lisbon player Bruno Fernandes who was also constantly linked with the club throughout last summer’s transfer window.

Bruno Fernandes scored 32 goals plus 18 assists in all competitions for Sporting Lisbon in the last campaign.

He has also scored eight goals in the league this season.