Ajax – Thomas Vermaelen

Thomas Vermaelen did not take long to open his account for Barcelona.

The defender scored his fourth appearance for the Catalan club, who managed a 1-0 win over Malaga as a result. The former Arsenal defender failed to make any sort of an impact last season as he was injured throughout the campaign. Now, though, he has spoken in length about how he wants to repay the faith of the Barcelona supporters. Vermaelen was a £ 16 million signing from Arsenal last summer. He was brought to the club as the replacement for Carlos Puyol.

His return to the first-team could not have come at a better time since Barcelona are short on numbers especially at the back. Sky Sports pundit Terry Gibson claims that the Belgian international feels like a new signing for the reigning while the champions. At 29 years of age, he still has the ability to deliver for a few number of years at the top level. Barcelona needed a quality centre back in order to avoid overreliance upon Gerard Pique or Javier Mascherano. Gibson says that Vermaelen has always remained a quality player and he is surprised with how Arsenal fans still doubt him. Continue reading Thomas Vermaelen did not take long to open his account for Barcelona

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that one of the reasons for Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen to be a cult hero at Arsenal is his commitment to the club. Arsenal were very tough situation in the summer after the departure of some of Nasri and Cesc Fabregas.

Just when it seemed that they were about to lose all their top stars to other clubs, Thomas Vermaelen penned a new four year contract with the club. The Belgian defender was coming on the back of a injury hit season, but was still able to commit to the club who had shown great interest to bring him from Belgium.

Even though the season has not exactly gone in the way they would have wanted, Arsenal fans can look forward to seeing their club qualify for the next season’s Champions League. Qualifying for this elite European competition is very important for a club like Arsenal because it would not only help them retain their current stars, but also provide them with very important cash to attract even more. Just at the turn of this year, Arsenal looked to be out of the race to finish in the top four, but we have just moved into the third position following a spectacular run of form.

Continue reading COMMITMENT MAKES VERMAELEN CULT HERO