Sure, Barcelona hadnt signed a centre-half in five years, and punters had been crying out for the club to eradicate this. But quite how the injury-plagued and error-strewn Thomas Vermaelen found himself at a transfer tug-of-war between two of the worlds biggest clubs during the summer, he cant quite have believed himself.
''Coming to Barcelona is a dream move - it wasnt a difficult decision at all. I feel ready to play here. I think I can offer a lot to this club. Theres a lot of competition here but Im very excited. Its up to me to show what I can do - itll be a challenge for me. - Thomas Vermaelen, August 2014.
The club captain had fallen down the pecking order at Arsenal, with Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny preferred to the injury-prone Belgian, and whenever he was called on during his final seasons with the club, he seemed to make high-profile blunders - such as clearing the ball straight to Robin van Persie to lash past Wojciech Szczescny in November 2012. However, while Man United surprisingly courted him this summer, it came as even more of a shock to see Barcelona prepared to part with £15 million for the injury-prone centre-back. It certainly had shades of Real Madrids decision to sign Jonathan Woodgate for a similar fee a decade earlier, with Vermaelen still yet to make an appearance for the Catalan giants due to his injury problems.
''I want to put the injuries Ive had behind me and look to the future. My aim is to play in lots of games and help the team. - Thomas Vermaelen, August 2014.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
