‘He seems to be OK’ – Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta gives Pablo Mari update after reported stabbing

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that the club have been in touch with Pablo Mari’s family after he was reportedly stabbed.

News stories emerged on Thursday evening that the Spanish player had been stabbed in Italy at a shopping centre as part of an attack that saw six people injured.

The 29-year-old is believed to have been stabbed in the hand during the incident.

He is in Italy after joining Monza on loan at the start of the season.

Arteta was speaking after his club’s 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League, with goals coming from Joey Veerman and Luuk de Jong, sending the Dutch club through to the next round and giving the North London side a rare defeat for the season.

Asked about the attack, the manager said that Arsenal’s technical director had been in touch with the player’s relatives and he believed his health was not in immediate danger.

He said: “I just found out. I know Edu has been in touch with his relatives. He’s in hospital but he seems to be okay.”

The club released a statement on their official website confirming the news.

It said: “We are all shocked to hear the dreadful news about the stabbing in Italy, which has put a number of people in hospital including our on-loan centre-back Pablo Mari.

“We have been in contact with Pablo’s agent who has told us he’s in hospital and is not seriously hurt. Our thoughts are with Pablo and the other victims of this dreadful incident.”

Mari joined Arsenal in 2020 from Brazilian side Flamengo initially on loan. He completed a permanent move to the Premier League team the following year but was unable to maintain a regular spot in the starting line-up. He has just 19 appearances for his parent club.

He spent the second half of last season with another Italian side, Udinese.