Arsenal have confirmed that defender Pablo Mari - on loan at Serie A side Monza - has not been "seriously hurt" in a stabbing that has left one person dead and several others injured in Milan.
The 29-year-old centre-back was one of six victims of the attack, which Italian media have claimed was perpetrated by a 46-year-old man with a history of mental health problems, who is now in custody.
The attack occurred at 17:30 UK time in the Carrefour supermarket in the Milanofiori complex of Assago, while Arsenal were preparing to take on PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League.
News broke of the stabbing towards the end of the match, although the initial signs were that the defender did not suffer any serious injuries after his transfer to Niguarda Hospital.
Mikel Arteta was made aware of the attack after the game at the Philips Stadion and confirmed that the club had been in touch with the player's entourage.
"I know Edu has been in touch with his relatives. He's in hospital but seems to be OK. We're having a briefing now, we'll be in touch and hopefully he will be OK," Arteta said at his post-game press conference.
Arsenal have now released a club statement expressing their shock at the "dreadful" incident in Italy, but Mari is recovering in hospital after avoiding any life-threatening injuries.
Our thoughts are with Pablo Mari and the other victims of today's dreadful incident in Italy.
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 27, 2022
We have been in contact with Pablo's agent who has told us he's in hospital and is not seriously hurt.
"We are all shocked to hear the dreadful news about the stabbing in Italy, which has put a number of people in hospital including our on-loan centre-back Pablo Mari," the statement read.
"We have been in contact with Pablo's agent who has told us he's in hospital and is not seriously hurt. Our thoughts are with Pablo and the other victims of this dreadful incident."
Reports have claimed that the alleged attacker grabbed a knife from the store shelves and started stabbing people at random, and a store clerk in his 30s has died as a result of his wounds.
Following Mari's transfer to hospital, Monza CEO Adriano Galliani and coach Raffaele Palladino went to visit the on-loan defender - teammates were reportedly discouraged from going due to fear of crowding - and the former gave an update to the media.
Speaking to TG2 - as transcribed by Tuttomercatoweb - Galliani revealed that Mari had sustained a deep cut to his back, but no vital organs were damaged.
"Unfortunately I received terrible news, the store cashier died. As for Pablo Mari he had a fairly deep wound on his back, a penetrating one, which however did not touch vital organs such as lungs or other," Galliani said.
"He is not in danger of life, certainly has problems but should recover quickly despite some injured muscles. He is conscious and getting stitches."
A separate post from Galliani on Monza's social media accounts read: "Dear Pablo, we are all here close to you and your family, we care for you, continue to fight the way you know how, you are a warrior and will heal soon."
Mari has scored once in eight matches for the Italian club since arriving on loan in the summer, and Monza's option to make the deal permanent will turn into an obligation if they avoid relegation to Serie B this season.
The former Flamengo man has made 22 appearances for Arsenal over the past two-and-a-half years, scoring once and winning the FA Cup in 2020.
Ben Knapton
