BREAKING NEWS: Stabbed Arsenal defender Pablo Mari undergoes successful surgery

On-loan Arsenal defender Pablo Mari has undergone successful surgery on Friday after being stabbed during a deadly knife attack in an Italian supermarket.

The surgery, it was gathered, was to reconstruct two injured muscles in his back following a mass stabbing at a Milan supermarket – that left one worker dead.

The Spanish centre-back was one of five victims transported to hospital following the gruesome attack.

His clubside Monza said he would remain in the hospital for two to three days as he faces a two-month lay-off before he can continue physical activity.

In a tweet, the Serie A club Monza said they were “united in grief” with the family of the supermarket’s employee whose life was taken.

Meanwhile, Monza chief executive Adriano Galliani who visited the 29-year-old at the Niguarda Hospital with head coach Raffaele Palladino on Thursday night before declaring in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport: “He had the strength to joke and tell me that he will be back in training on Monday.”

Galliani later told Sky Italia: “I’ve spoken to Pablo. He told me about this incredible incident. He had his son in a trolley and his wife next to him.

“He didn’t notice anything. He then felt something painful in his back, which was the criminal’s knife.”

Mari has featured in eight matches for the Serie A side this season, scoring once.