Turkish giants enter race to sign Arsenal defender

Fenerbahce have emerged as fresh contenders to sign Arsenal defender Pablo Mari on a permanent deal.

The Spaniard spent the second half of last season on loan with Udinese where he was hugely impressive.

The Serie A outfit are optimistic of re-signing him this summer, but he is unlikely to leave for cheap.

Arsenal paid around £7.4m to Flamengo for Mari's services, and they are keen to recoup the entire sum.

It remains to be seen whether Fenerbahce or Udinese are prepared to meet the Gunners' transfer demands.

The 28-year-old still has two years left on his contract, but he will be hoping to head for the exit door soon.

Mari does not feature in the plans of Mikel Arteta with as many as four centre-backs preferred over him.

Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Rob Holding are all ahead of him in the pecking order.

Aside from Mari, Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Reiss Nelson and Lucas Torreira are set to be sold.