Pablo Mari was one of several Arsenal players to be shown the door in a January clearout that saw Mikel Arteta’s squad trimmed of any excess ahead of the second half of the season.

It seems, however, that most parted on good terms.

And, speaking to Spanish outlet Radio Marca, Mari was full of praise for his Arsenal boss in the aftermath of his Udinese debut.

‘Arteta is one of the best managers I’ve come across. He helped me a lot to understand football better’, Mari said. ‘It’s an idea very similar to Guardiola’s, but with its subtle differences.’

The Spanish defender is one of few players who can lay claim to having been managed by both Guardiola and Arteta, having spent 4 years at Manchester City, albeit with just a handful of days actually at the club in between loan spells away.

Like at Manchester City, Mari left Arsenal in search of first-team football in January, completing a loan switch to Udinese in Serie A, where he kept a clean sheet on his debut to help the Italian side to a stoppage-time victory over Torino in their most recent fixture.

And, quizzed on why he made the move, he revealed that he felt his position in the Arsenal squad had come to a head, and that he needed to plan for his own future.

‘I haven’t had any luck at Arsenal, but when I’ve been on the pitch, I think I’ve given a very good level. In the end, there comes a point where you have to make decisions’, he told the radio. 

And he is not the only one

Mari is far from the only Arsenal squad member to be found praising Mikel Arteta to high heaven, despite fan arguments that they have improved little from when he took over in 2019.

In March 2021, Kieran Tierney revealed he felt that the manager was a genius, telling sky sports:

‘The manager is a genius. A football genius. You can see we are all loving working under him and me especially, I love it.’

‘He helped me a lot’ Arsenal loanee reveals just how good Mikel Arteta has been as Arsenal manager

Kieran Tierney of Arsenal during the FA Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on January 9, 2021 in London, England.(Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

‘Every day I’m learning, he has shown me a new light onto football. I’m seeing it a different way now and I’m watching other teams and looking at tactics and that’s just because of the way he has made me think about it.’

Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka, who has flourished in the last two years, put much of his improvement down to the Spaniard, telling LadBible:

‘Since he’s come in he’s improved me a lot as a player – a lot of my improvement I have to thank him for.’

Safe to say, Arteta is building up quite the following among his squad. He will be hoping that this translates onto the pitch for the rest of the season.

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