Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Rocky7 
Date:Monday June 8 2009
Time: 8:55AM
UK time is: 19:44:46
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Vermaelen To Be A Gooner? He Thinks So
There has been much speculation recently as the the possible purchase of Belgian defender, Thomas Vermaelen, from Ajax.
The initial reports were treated with the usual pinch of salt from football starved gooners, but it seems this particular rumour is gathering pace, so much so that now the player himself believes the deal is moving along enough for him to talk about how much he is relishing the move.
"In the coming days there will be more talks," it was reported Vermaelen said, on the Setanta website.
"Moving to Arsenal is the right path for me. It is a great sporting challenge and I will also be financially better off. I think everything is going to be okay."
The fee is reported as £11 Million, but as is the norm with Arsenal's transfers, the only people who really know is The Gunners and the seller's bank manager.
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Your Comments
mmmm. He is a good player, but I don't know how I feel about this. He's another similar player to Toure and Gallas. He comes from a league that doesn't have teams like Chelsea, Bolton, Blackburn, Hull and Everton who can only play ariel football. Can he cope? Can he make a difference? If he is set to play with one Toure or Gallas then the answer in my book is NO! Perhaps the Toure to City stories is true. To be honest, I wouldn't be all that upset if we let Toure and Gallas go. We have that 6'4 defender coming back who had a great season in Europe. Not Senderos, can't remember his name.
Trennon
Just saw a report that City want to swop Richards for Toure. With the arival of Barry, what does the future hold for Steven Ireland? I would much prefer a swop of Toure and Ireland!!
Trennon
I'm not surprised Wenger is going for another CB, but am I the only one who thinks Djourou came on leaps and bounds last year and should get more starts?
navydave
VUUUUURMaelen
ajwb
I am guessing that he is good in the air. You don't have to be tall to be good in the air. And of course we would all like a towering CB like Vidic, but they have to be able to play the high line and cover themselves like Toure and Gallas do. I agree with Amos with his point that a defender like Hangeland could come here and be found out because he just sits on the edge of his box - how would he feel being 10 yards further forward and having a fast striker on his shoulder. We need players like Gallas - and as LD pointed out, these defenders can win headers. If you looked at every goal we conceded this year, the large majority of them would be general defensive mistakes, not long balls or crosses (with some of them being blames on organisation, not height)
Tom14
But he could be our new defensive midfielder... ;-)
Tom14
Tom. Let's hope not. I think we need a proven DM and not another experiment!
Trennon
I don't think we need a DM at all to be honest. I can't name one that I think we could realistically get who is better than Denilson.
Tom14
Ireland?
Trennon
Ireland what?
Tom14
Stephen Ireland is not s DM. I'm quite happy with Denilson and Song. Unless we can get Yaya, I'm not bothered about getting another one.
navydave
I know, who out there is actually better than Denilson?
Tom14
"I know, who out there is actually better than Denilson?" -- Senna, Yaya Toure, Mascherano -- but none of them are available. I like Denilson very much, my only doubt about him is his ability with the physicality of the likes of Stoke with their team of boxers and basketball players. Or Chelsea. Can Denilson handle a powerful, full strength team like Chelsea? The Flamster was small too but he had a bite and bark to him that compensated for that. Denilson is both small and too nice. My feeling is that if we don't have a dominant presence in midfield then we must have that kind of strength and power at the back for balance. Even teams of small, short men like Barca and Spain have big strong DMs like Senna and Toure.
jaelle
OFF-TOPIC: I watched RVP and Bendtner play in their int'l games over the weekend. Bendtner was ok (Denmark won v. Sweden 1-0) but RVP was all over the pitch as part of a very dominant, wonderful-to-watch Dutch display against Iceland. Tho final score was only 2-1, should've been much more. RVP was unlucky not to score twice, he hit the post (AGAIN!) and created some terrific chances for his teammates. Unfortunately the Iceland players were hellbent on kicking and injuring the Dutch and RVP was on the receiving end of several bad challenges. Holland are the first European team to qualify for the 2010 wc.
jaelle
I very much doubt that Senna is better. Apart from his goal, he did literally nothing against us - home and away. Mascherano - yes, but he plays alongside Alonso who helps him out a bit. And Yaya is possibly the best, so no arguments there. And you have De Rossi, but these guys are top top class. Denilson is just below that, and he is only 21.
Tom14
To be fair to Senna's performance against us at home, he didn't play that game, haha, but I see what you're saying.
TPowell
See, non-existent lol
Tom14
Yeah Jaelle, despite the scoreline, I thought I was in love with the Dutch team in those 90 minutes!
GoonerLou
Lou, they were just a pure joy to watch, art on the football pitch. And I had to really LOL when I saw the Iceland team sheet. Every single player (incl. the bench) had a surname ending with a "son" or "sen", most of them with a "sson." Looking at the list of players on the screen, it just looked really striking.
jaelle
Is it just me or does anyone think rvp is one of the most unlucky players ive seen, his injuries and his ability to break posts
gunner24
I'd rather have a Distin than a Vermaelen. Distin is a tough uncompromising defender who would looked great in a top4 club.
Gael-Force
Distin was totally useless last season.
Tom14
when I saw the Iceland team sheet. Every single player (incl. the bench) had a surname ending with a "son" or "sen", most of them with a "sson Jaelle it's becouse the Iclanders still have the ancient naming practice wich the vikings had, their children take the given name of their father as their surname, if it's a boy it ends in son, if it's a girl it ends in dottir. As for the way the Dutch team played and in particular RVP you have to take the oppesition into account, the Iclandic team did not have much to offer.
Armory
he is player who would go for a header in the last minute of his life !! he is vidic-like, cannavaro was very short didnt stop him being world-class defender, i would be very happy with any defender it would mean we know what is our weaknesses
Gooner SA
I've never seen Vermaelen play so not sure about his quality, but I don't think we should discount him because of his size. As others have said earlier you don't need to be tall to be aerially dominant e.g. Roberto Ayala, Fabio Cannavaro. Also he is experienced at both club and international level and still only 23. I'll just be glad to see us finally sign a centre back, not rely on youngsters or players past their peak. If Djourou is good enough to be a first team player he will get enough chances with injuries and suspensions to our other centre backs.
jubair
Remember, this is 11 mil, not some random 2 mil "hopeful" signing. I would put this in the Eduardo/Sagna category.
Tom14
Seriously if he turns out to be a CB version of Sagna, at 23, and he's okay with fighting for a starting place with Kolo/Gallas in his 1st season with us, we'd be all set for the coming few years!!
GoonerLou
I agree Tom, Wenger's success rate for players brought in with at least some experience playing first team for club and country has be perfect the last couple of years... Arshavin, Nasri, Sagna, and Eduardo (damn, I forgot about Sylvestre, let's just forget about that abomination)
TPowell
I hope that Tom14 is right and that Vermaelen is in the same class as Arshavin, Nasri, Sagna and Eduardo. And that GoonerLou is also right and Vermaelen turns into a very good CB. As long as Arsene listens to the people who steers him towards Arshavin, Nasri etc and not the person who told him Sylvestre would be a good buy?!
hackneyval
Silvestre was a good buy. Imagine what would have happened if we didn't sign him and just went ahead with what we had.
Tom14
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