Vermaelen signs: “I want to assure the Arsenal fans that I will give everything for this Club”
Add comment June 20th, 2009
Thomas Vermaelen (pronounced Ver-mah-len) is an Arsenal player. Ajax Amsterdam confirmed that the fee for their captain was €10m rising to €12m, and he will join up with the rest of the squad for pre-season training in July.
Arsene was clearly delighted to get his man, saying:
“Thomas is a great signing for Arsenal Football Club, and we are all delighted that he is joining us. Thomas is a solid performer with good experience of Champions League and UEFA Cup football and is also a regular with the Belgium national team.
Thomas is primarily a left-footed centre back, but he’s multi-functional and can also play at left back. He is strong technically with a positive winner’s attitude and I have no doubt his arrival will strengthen our team. Thomas Vermaelen will be a huge asset to Arsenal.”
The player himself was keen to stress his stress his affection for his former club, but seems thrilled to be moving to London:
“Firstly, I have to say that I’m sad to be leaving Ajax and I would just like to thank everyone for their help and friendship towards me over the past eight years.
I’m just so happy to be joining Arsenal. This is a great Club with a world class manager, high quality players and a fantastic stadium. Everything is set up for Arsenal to be very successful for years to come and I joined this Club because I know Arsenal will be challenging for trophies.
I have had a good taste of the Champions League during my time with Ajax and this is something I am looking forward to experiencing again with Arsenal. I’m also looking forward to playing in the English Premier League, which for me, is the best league in the world. Also, I just want to assure the Arsenal fans that I will give everything for this Club and I hope we can enjoy winning some trophies together next season.”
The club officially list his height as six foot, which is plenty big enough for a defender. All in all, I think this is just the sort of signing we need.
Vermaelen’s arrival has sparked yet more rumours about the futures of Gallas and Toure. Is it just me, but does signing a left-footed centre-back who can also play left-back put the Arsenal career of one Mikael Silvestre in far more jeopardy?
The president of Bourdeaux, the club from which we’re supposedly on the verge of signing Marouane Chamakh, says he hasn’t heard from Arsenal in eight years. This becomes more understandable when you discover that eight years ago he sold us Sylvain Wiltord for a then club record fee.
So, United will now be without both Ronaldo and Tevez next season. They’ll have to spend an awful lot of money to be as strong again next season.
