Fenerbahce have reportedly opened talks with Arsenal over a deal for centre-back Pablo Mari.

The 28-year-old seemingly does not have a future in North London under Mikel Arteta and is expected to depart during the current transfer window.

Mari was a consistent fixture of the side in the 2020-21 season, but the Spaniard was pushed down the pecking order following the £50m arrival of Ben White.

Now, Mari is Mikel Arteta's fifth-choice central defender behind White, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Rob Holding, although he has been involved in the Gunners' pre-season period.

Udinese were unable to strike a permanent deal for Mari following his loan spell in Serie A, leaving his long-term future shrouded in uncertainty.

According to journalist Rudy Galetti, Turkish giants Fenerbahce have now made contact over the possibility of signing Mari during the current transfer window.

The former Flamengo man is only under contract at Arsenal for another two years and is expected to be available for the right price ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

Fenerbahce memorably took Mesut Ozil off of Arsenal's hands when the Gunners terminated the German's deal in 2021, but his contract with the Super Lig side was ripped up earlier this summer.

Mari arrived in North London from Flamengo in January 2020, with the Gunners initially paying £7.2m to sign him on loan before making his deal permanent for a £5.4m fee later that year.

Mari has since scored one goal in 22 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions and collected an FA Cup winners' medal in the 2019-20 campaign.

However, Mari made just three appearances for Arsenal in the first half of the 2021-22 season before being shipped out on loan to Udinese, where he quickly became a first-team regular.

The Spanish defender scored twice in 15 Serie A starts for Le Zebrette, and he has since returned to Arsenal to feature under Arteta in a stellar pre-season period.

The Gunners made it five wins from five friendly matches with a 4-0 thumping of Chelsea in Saturday's Florida Cup game, after which Arteta had very positive words to say about Saliba.

Arsenal complete their summer preparations against Sevilla in the Emirates Cup on Saturday before meeting Crystal Palace in the Premier League opener on August 5. body check tags ::