Arsenal and FC Barcelona have reached an agreement for the sale of defender Thomas Vermaelen.
The Belgium international has been linked with a Summer exit after falling down the pecking order at the North London club, despite still being the captain, and he will now fly to Spain in order to complete a medical and agree personal terms with the Catalan side.
The fee is reported to be around £15million, which Arsene Wenger will look to use to sign a new centre-defender as Vermaelen’s replacement, as the club currently only have two recognised defenders in Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker, with the latter still yet to return to pre-season.
Barca have been on the look-out for a new centre-back since Carles Puyol announced his retirement, and with news that Vermaelen was available, they moved in and beat Manchester United to his signature, after the Premier League side pulled out due to Arsenal wanting to do a swap deal with Chris Smalling.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
