Thomas Vermaelen’s current campaign with Arsenal is not going through the best of times as he has only made 11 appearances so far for the side of Arsene Wenger with injury problems that has left him enjoying more time on the sidelines than on the actual playing grounds.
The Belgian’s lack of matches is not only due to his injuries but the emergence of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny as the man center backs of Arsenal has seen Vermaelen taking a backup position.
The partnership of Mertesacker and Koscielny has formed a defence that has seen Arsenal being one of the clubs in the Premier League with fewer goals conceded which just demonstrates the effectiveness both players have.
Reports are being spread around concerning the future of Vermaelen as he is believed to be targeted by the Russian club Zenit St.Petersburg. Considering his lack of matches and recent out of form performances it might just be a wise decision for Vermaelen to make if he wants to go into the 2014 World Cup at his absolute best form.
Jan Vertonghen, Vincent Kompany, Daniel Van Buyten and a number of other several rising stars could threaten the starting spot of Vermaelen at the World Cup. He can either make a loan switch to Zenit St.Petersburg or wait until he can get a shot in the starting lineup of Wenger.
Zenit St.Petersburg has already offloaded some of their funds as they managed to sign Salomon Rondom from Rubin Kazan and are set to make an offer of around €15 million for the Belgian defender who recently entered their radar. The Russian club is currently located at the top of their league and is hoping that the addition of Vermaelen will help them continue the positive campaign that they are going through.
