Mari back in training after stabbing

Spanish defender Pablo Mari has returned to training at Serie A side Monza, two months after undergoing surgery having been stabbed in an attack in an Italian supermarket that left one man dead.

Milan's Niguarda hospital said in October its trauma team reconstructed two muscles in the back of the 29-year-old centre back, who is on loan at Monza from Premier League club Arsenal.

Mari tweeted a picture of him in training on Wednesday with the caption: "Step by step."

Italian police said a 46-year-old with mental health issues was detained after the attack in a Carrefour supermarket and was under guard in a psychiatric ward.

The assailant had used a kitchen knife available for sale in the supermarket in the town of Assago. A 47-year-old Bolivian national who worked at the supermarket in a shopping mall died, while another employee and four customers were injured.

Mari joined Arsenal from Brazilian side Flamengo in 2020 and made 19 appearances for them before a loan spell at Udinese this year. He joined Monza on loan in August.