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.
Due to the absence of Vermaelen, Barcelona brought in the likes of Jeremy Mathieu and Marc Bartra.”Barcelona are fortunate with the transfer ban that Vermaelen returning is like getting a new signing.I always thought he was the best centre-back Arsenal had anyway, and then Laurent Koscielny went to the top of the rankings at the Emirates.Arsenal supporters didn’t seem too fussed when Vermaelen left, possibly because of his injuries. But I’ve always rated him as a good player, and the supporters are really keen on him at Barcelona,” said Vermaelen, who has already featured in more than 200 minutes of football.