Many have been wondering about the absence of Captain Thomas Vermaelen during the preseason and it has come to light that the defender is in fact injured. During the pre-match press conference for the Emirates Cup, Arsene Wenger revealed that Vermaelen is suffering from an undisclosed injury, adding also that there is a possibility he leaves during this transfer window:
Wenger: "@T_Vermaelen05 is injured. It is a possibility that he goes." http://t.co/GFNaNzGOGy #EmiratesCup
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) August 1, 2014
This comes as little surprise to many. TV5 is a good enough defender to start elsewhere and the chances of him accepting his position behind Per Mertersacker and Laurent Koscielny as the third centerback was always slim. There are rumors of a possible move for him to Manchester United and Napoli, with the United interest the seemingly more concrete one of the two.
If he does leave, it will leave Arsenal with another hole to fill unless Wenger views he recently signed Calum Chambers as an able replacement already. The boss did assure that he was interested in more transfer moves this summer so it does seem as there is a plan in place.
There is also a chance that Vermaelen stays, which would be ideal.