David Luiz is an “unbelievable player”, according to Pablo Mari, with an Arsenal new boy welcoming the opportunity work with a decorated Brazil international.
The Gunners moved to bolster their centre-half ranks during the winter transfer window as former Manchester City hopeful Mari was brought back to English football from a spell at Copa Libertadores winners Flamengo.
He arrived at Emirates Stadium better prepared to face the challenges put in front of him than when he moved to the Etihad, but Mikel Arteta was still eager to ease him into the fold at Arsenal.
Mari made his debut in an FA Cup clash with Portsmouth, before then helping to keep another clean sheet on his Premier League bow against West Ham.
Both of those outings came alongside Luiz, a player the Spanish defender believes he can learn a lot from.
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Mari told Arsenal Player: "We know that David is an unbelievable player.
"He's had a good career and is a good football player, and also playing with him is so easy. These two games with him in the starting XI were nice because I only focused on my job and I didn't need to focus on other jobs.
"This is easy when you want to have a big game. We know he's an experienced player and sometimes when you need to do different things in the last minutes, like when you need to make calls or something like this, he can do it. For us, it's easy to play with him."
Mari has instantly endeared himself to the Gunners faithful with his composure at the back and even has his own song.
The 26-year-old added on his first outing at the Emirates in a 1-0 win over West Ham: "For me, it was an unbelievable day.
"It was a nice night for everybody and we won the game, which is the most important thing. Also my feeling on the pitch was really nice.
"With our fans, with our team, in our home, I think I had everything there to enjoy it. I enjoyed that game a lot and I hope I'm going to play the next games to feel the same with our team-mates and also for the club.
"The fans did a little bit of a song for me when I was named in the starting XI, and I'm so happy about that. This means they are feeling happy with me, with my job, so this is nice. I'm going to try to do my best in all the games, to win games, to get points. This is the most important thing, to win games, because we want to move up the table."