Udinese director Pierpaolo Marino would not be drawn on the permanent signing of Arsenal defender Pablo Mari.

The centre-back is currently on loan at the Serie A club, where he has been very impressive.

However, Udinese do not have a buy option within the contract, which means there is no set fee they can pay Arsenal to secure the player.

They will instead have to negotiate with the English side, which director Marino wanted to make clear to reporters.

"Mari is an Arsenal player. It is already unusual for such a player to come to Udinese, not because we don't deserve it, but because in general the path is the opposite," Marino told DAZN.

"It will be difficult to keep him, but we will try."