IT’S A PERFECT RIAGE
Pumped-up Pablo loves it at Gunners DRAGONS FIRED UP TO DO IT FOR JOE
WALES have been left devastated by Joe Allen’s injury KO – but insist they plan to do him proud at Euro 2020.
The Stoke midfielder, 29, will miss the tournament after he ruptured his Achilles tendon in Saturday’s 5-1 Championship win at home to Hull.
Allen’s absence is a huge blow for Dragons boss Ryan Giggs.
“I feel for Joe,” said Wales and Swansea defender Joe Rodon.
“He’s been unbelievable in this qualifying campaign and all the other ones he’s been involved in.
“The news is absolutely devastating for Wales. He will be massively missed and I want to wish him all the best with his recovery. Hopefully we can make
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PABLO MARI has admitted his spell with Manchester City was a missed chance as he prepares to return to the Etihad with Arsenal tomorrow.
But the defender, on loan from Flamengo, claims he is twice the player he was when he quit City last summer having never played a game for them. And Mari, who has started Arsenal’s last two matches, insists he is now on a mission to convince the Gunners to make his loan move a permanent one.
The 26-year-old said: “A missed opportunity at City? Maybe. In that time I wanted to play with them. This was not possible. “So now it is another situation for me. I want to play a lot of years here with him proud. Joe has been a consistent performer throughout his whole career but he’s a brilliant person as well.”
Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey always grab the headlines but Allen has been at the heart of the team for one of the most successful periods in the country’s history.
Giggs must now work out how to replace a man who would have been one of the first names on his team sheet.
He will hope Chelsea loanee Ethan Ampadu’s Champions League exposure with Red Bull Leipzig will benefit him on the international stage.
Will Vaulks is another man who could
Arsenal. It is another situation and I am happy now. I’ve learned a lot since I left City because, when I was there, I was young, now I am older.
“I learned a lot in teams I have played.
“I don’t want to look back, I want to look forward. Now I am in a really good club and I want to continue here.
“I am so happy here. I am going to try and do my best until the end of the season.
“I hope also the club is happy with me and then we are going to find a good end for everybody.”
Mari spent three years at City but was so far on the fringes that he never met Mikel Arteta, then the club’s assistant manager, or Pep Guardiola.
Instead, he was loaned out to Girona, NEC Breda and Deportivo La Coruna before all the being sold to Brazilian Flamengo for just £1.3m.
Asked about Arteta, Mari said: “I didn’t meet him there. So this is my first time with him. But everybody knows he is a really good coach.
“He tries to speak with me a lot and I try to learn a lot with him. I think it is going to be good together.”
Mari became Arteta’s first signing as Arsenal boss in January but at one point his on-off transfer was in danger of collapsing, with Flamengo pushing for a permanent sale.
The Spanish centre-back, who was recommended by technical director Edu, says David Luiz has helped him settle in.
Mari said: “Playing with that kind of player is nice. Everybody knows David is a really good player and playing with him is really easy for me.” come into the starting equation. He has impressed for Cardiff since the turn of the year and said: “I viewed it as a big move coming here and Wales selection played a massive part in that decision.
“I was coming down to play for a team in the capital and it was about having a relationship with the fans.
“It’s a massive ambition for me to keep playing for Wales.
“Three or four years ago I was at Falkirk and playing at Dumbarton away in front of 800 people. Now I’ve worked my way up to have a chance of going to the Euros.
“I have to take that chance. I can’t let it slip.”
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