Thomas Vermaelen has had a very difficult period since joining Barcelona in the summer for around £ 15 million.
The Belgian international was widely expected to plug the gap left by Carlos Puyol’s retirement. However, Vermaelen is yet to make his debut for the club even though it is almost 6 months since he made the move. The injury problems faced by the 29-year-old as certainly not new given that he managed to make only 21 appearances for Arsenal last season. However, Barcelona would have expected much more from the Belgian when they brought him in the summer.
Some of the injuries that have affected Vermaelen include hamstring problems and knee issues. Barcelona have put the estimated recovery time at around four months, which may effectively rule him out for the season. Only a few weeks ago, the prospect of Vermaelen returning back to the Premier League was suggested given that he may not establish himself in the Barcelona first-team. Arsenal even looked at the possibility of bringing the player back due to their own injury crisis. Such transfer rumours have been put to halt due to this new injury.
“Thomas Vermaelen successfully underwent surgery on Wednesday on the semitendinosus muscle in his right hamstring.The recovery period is estimated at approximately four months,” said a statement from the Catalan club. Barcelona have not missed the defender much given that Jeremy Mathieu has been able to excel in defence. The 31-year-old has featured in most of the la Liga matches this season. But, Luis Enrique has not had a steady centre back partnership this season due to the poor form of Gerard Pique, which has led to the Spanish international being dropped for some high-profile matches. Barcelona remain two points behind table leaders Real Madrid after 13 matches in the season.
