Thomas Vermaelen emerged as a surprise transfer target for Manchester United in the last few weeks. The Belgian international is widely expected to leave Arsenal once the transfer window opens on July 1. He has been widely expected to join a club in Italy, Spain or Germany. However, several reports in the last few days hinted that Vermaelen has already agreed personal terms with United and that the Red Devils just had to agree a transfer fee with Arsenal.
Vermaelen, who is on international duty with the Belgian national team at the World Cup 2014, has revealed that speculation about his future is not true. He is focusing only on the World Cup right now. His Belgian team are backed heavily against their next opponents Russia in World Cup football at betfair.com. According to Sky Sports, he said: “I know there has been a lot of talk and a lot of rumours but the only thing I can say is that it’s not true. Everybody understands my situation at Arsenal and that I have one year left.
“I understand that people are going to talk but I am here in Brazil and I am enjoying my time and I’m focused on what I am doing.”
Despite being Arsenal’s captain, Vermaelen has featured rarely in the last two years. Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have been the preferred centre back combination for Arsene Wenger. Vermaelen has been able to get game time only when either of these players were unavailable.
The 28-year-old was widely expected to leave last summer or even in January, but such a proposed move never occurred. He is almost certain to be sold this summer given that he has only one year left on his contract. Arsenal would not want to allow the player leave on a free after having paid £10 million for him in 2009.
The North London outfit will be aware that they are unlikely to receive anywhere close to £10 million for him, but they would ideally like to see a good offer on the table. United are likely to be in the market for several defenders after allowing the likes of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand to leave the club at the end of last season. Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones complete the crop of central defenders at United.
Ideally, they would like to see one more top player available for Louis van Gaal in order to cover for the injuries. Vermaelen provides a sensible option given that he is likely to be available for around £5 million. Further, he is extremely versatile and will be capable of playing either centrally or in a left back position. With negotiations for Luke Shaw dragging on, Patrice Evra could be first choice once again after extending his United stay by 12 months.
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