Arsenal agrees £15million fee with Barcelona for Vermaelen
By: Opeyemi Oladunjoye
Barcelona will soon secure the services of Arsenal captain, Thomas Vermaelen, after the English club agreed to part with him for a fee of about £15m.
The 28-year-old Belgium centre-back must now agree personal terms with the Catalan giants and pass a medical and is likely to move to Barcelona by this weekend. Manchester United had also been in pursuit of him but they ended their interest after refusing Arsenal’s demand to receive a player as part of the deal.
During Vermaelen’s five-year stay in London, he made 150 appearances in all competitions, 110 Premier League appearances, scoring 13 goals and winning the FA Cup in 2014. He has 47 International caps for Belgium.
Vermaelen was plagued by a series of injuries and lost his place at centre-back last season as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger favoured Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny as his first-choice pairing.
He made just 21 appearances in all competitions last season and Wenger admitted this week that the player needed to move on.
Vermaelen would become Barca’s second centre-back signing this summer after Valencia’s Jeremy Mathieu, who is their first recruit in that position since 2009.
