Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen has completed his move from the Gunners to FC Barcelona after successfully completing a medical and agreeing personal terms on Saturday. The fee is undisclosed, but the estimated fee is around £15m, almost double what Arsenal paid for his services in 2009.
The 28-year old centre-back signed for the Gunners in 2009 from Ajax, and after three impressive seasons with the club, as well as the departure of then captain Robin van Persie, he was made club captain. His form declined and injuries disrupted his final two years at the Gunners, with Kaurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker being preferred at centre-back.
In total, Vermaelen made 150 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 13 goals. He captained the side in the FA Cup final victory, lifting his first trophy with Arsenal in what turned out to be his final game. Vermaelen also played one game for his nation Belgium at this year's World Cup.
Vermaelen signs a five-year contract with Barcelona and will be introduced to the fans on Sunday afternoon, whilst his former club Arsenal prepare to play in the Community Shield final.
Vermaelen is not the first centre-back to join the Blaugrana this summer, with Jeremy Mathieu, who can also play as left-back like Vermaelen, joining from fellow La Liga side Valencia last month for a fee of €20million.
The Barcelona defence has been much criticised over the past few years, with the back line seemingly getting weaker whilst the rest of the team gets stronger. After the retirement of Carles Puyol and Victor Valdes running his contract down, it seems that Barcelona are trying to create a younger, and hopefully better defence for them to challenge on all fronts yet again for the coming season.