Arsenal fear Pablo Mari will not play again this season after suffering an ankle injury during Wednesday’s Premier League defeat at Manchester City.

The 26-year-old moved to the Emirates Stadium on a loan deal from Flamengo in January but, despite the believed £4million loan fee, Mari has managed just three appearances since.

The defender hobbled off after 25 minutes against former club City, with David Luiz replacing him before making an error for Raheem Sterling’s goal and then getting sent off for pulling back Riyad Mahrez in the penalty area.

Like Luiz, Mari’s future is now unclear with Arsenal yet to make a decision on whether to make the loan deal permanent for a fee that the PA news agency understands is in the region of £8million.

While his ankle injury is understood to need further assessment before the Gunners officially rule him out for the rest of the restarted campaign, those within the club are concerned it is an inevitability.