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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Arsenal defender 'turned into £26m' star amid surprise boost for potential transfer windfall

The final round of fixtures across Europe before the first international break of the season went very well for Arsenal and a number of players out on loan.

Whilst the Gunners returned to the top of the Premier League table with an impressive 3-0 win over Brentford, the weekend also saw talented youngster Charlie Patino open his account in Blackpool colours, Brooke Norton-Cuffy overcome an injury scare to start for Rotherham and Auston Trusty help Birmingham City keep a clean sheet.

However, on the other side of the coin, the international break has probably come at the perfect time for Nicolas Pepe and Folarin Balogun after the attacking duo each suffered defeats with Nice and Reims at home to Angers and AS Monaco respectively.

READ MORE: Arsenal player ratings vs Brentford as William Saliba stars and Gabriel Jesus is superb

Now, arguably the biggest winner of the Arsenal loan army over the weekend was Pablo Mari. The defender is spending the season on loan with Serie A newboys A.C. Monza and he was part of the side that made history by beating Juventus in the club's first-ever win in Italy's top-flight.

Although the win doesn't take Monza out of the relegation zone, they are now unbeaten in two and a point from safety. Their battle against the drop is of great interest to the Gunners who will secure a €7m (£5.9m) windfall next summer on the provision Mari helps his loan club survive.

But have Arsenal missed a trick in terms of setting his valuation too low? Well, David Amoyal - host of the Calcioland Podcast - joked that the 29-year-old is now worth €30m (£26m) following his performance against Juventus as helped shut out Dusan Vlahovic and company.

Of course, the comment was tongue-in-cheek as a player's valuation doesn't increase on the back of one 90-minute showing. In addition, considering his age, length of time remaining on his contract at the Emirates Stadium and the agreement with Monza, the Gunners are unlikely to get £26m when they decide to cash in.

As per SofaScore, Mari earned a 7.2 rating - his highest of the season so far - against Juventus after making two clearances, blocking one shot, winning 50% of his ground and aerial duels as well as successfully completing 46 passes from a total of 50 attempted.

With that said, there was one scary moment for the Spaniard to survive towards the end of the game as miscommunication between himself and goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio almost resulted in an own goal but the defender's blushes were saved as his header just cleared the top of the bar.

Next up for Mari and Monza is a trip to Sampdoria after the international break where they could move out of the relegation zone with a win coupled with results elsewhere going their way.

READ NEXT:

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What Arsenal did to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and the new King Charles III

Arsenal player ratings vs Brentford as William Saliba stars and Gabriel Jesus is superb

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