Thomas Vermaelen continues to be absent from the first-team even after his move to Roma. The player joined the Italian club on a loan deal from Barcelona. Signed as a replacement for Carlos Puyol, Vermaelen has never been able to manage more than a handful of games in each of the two seasons at the Camp Nou.
After having signed him for a whopping £ 16 million, Barcelona are unwilling to write off the deal. The club sent him on loan to Roma in the hope of seeing him rediscover his fitness. It has not been the case, as the player has been out with a hernia problem since September.
To make matters worse, Vermaelen has not even been training with the first team. He has been given an individual training program, but the player says that he is working hard in order to recover. Incredibly, he has made only two appearances since the move to the Italian outfit. A straight red card in the Champions League means that Vermaelen was unable to complete 90 minutes of action even in Europe. As he has been training alone, it is highly unlikely that the Belgian defender will be available for the important match against Napoli this weekend.
“Two months ago was my official presentation at Roma. Although I haven’t been as much on the pitch as I hoped for, I’m very happy to be part of the club. [I’m] Working hard on my recovery now and trying to get back as soon as I can,” said the Belgian defender on his current status. The defender has been plagued by injury problems since the 2013-14 season. The last time he made more than 40 appearances in a single campaign was back in the 2009-10 season, which was also his debut campaign with the gunners.