Vermaelen’s dip of form and string of serious injuries has kept him out of Arsenal’s main team not only of this season but for the majority of the year as well, only being able to play in 6 Premier League matches so far.
His contract extends until June of 2015 but in the condition that Vermaelen is with the club, reports have been emerging linking him with a possible move away from Arsenal. Napoli are strong contenders on signing him up in January but the Belgium defender has already stated that he will do everything he can to remain in the club.
Vermaelen told the Belgian TV station Sporting Telenet:”I don’t like to talk about my situation. It doesn’t matter. I am a player of Arsenal and I will do everything for this club. We will see what happens. It makes no sense to speculate about my future’’.
“We are still happy about our place in the table. To be title contenders we have to be very consistent. In the Premier League, everything is possible.”
The partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny has seen Vermaelen taking a step out of the starting lineup of Arsene Wenger and enjoying more time on the sidelines, he made his 2nd Premier League start for Arsenal during their match against Chelsea and Walcott said that he was happy to see him back in the pitch.
Walcott told Standard Sport: “He can have a big part to play in our season, without a doubt. It’s a great thing at this club that we have a lot of competition for places now’’.
“Thomas wanted to prove a point and I’m sure the way he played against Chelsea, he is definitely in the manager’s thoughts now. He has sat on the bench the whole season, he hasn’t sulked. He has come in every day and been the first one out at training. He’s a top guy, a top skipper.”
Arsene Wenger did say that he was impressed at the attitude that Vermaelen took after being dropped into the sidelines and has no intentions on releasing him or letting him go in January.
