Arsenal have been in trouble defensively for quite some time now. Whilst they were a little bit better last season (generally speaking), they still recorded some huge defeats against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. That hasn’t happened again this season (yet), but the brittleness of this Arsenal defence has been exposed again and again.
At times, games against Borussia Dortmund, Swansea City, Anderlecht and Manchester United have felt as bad as those three big defeats from last year. Clearly something needs to be done about this. Arsene Wenger needs to act and he needs to act soon.
Still, I didn’t see this particular rumour coming: according to The Metro, The Gunners are weighing up a deal to bring Thomas Vermaelen back on loan during the January transfer window. That’s right, the same Thomas Vermaelen they sent packing during the summer.
At the time, the £15m that Arsenal received from Barcelona in return for the Belgian centre-back looked like a decent bit of business. Little did we know that Arsene Wenger would fail to bring in enough new recruits to re-work his shrinking defense.
Despite this, there’s no way that Arsenal should sign Thomas Vermaelen, even if it’s just on loan. Over the last two or three years, the man’s injury record has been atrocious. He’s yet to make a single appearance for Barcelona, because he hasn’t been fit. In fact, his hamstring injury could keep him out until the new year.
Following that he’s going to need time to re-find his best fitness and his best form. I’d rather that he did this in a Barcelona shirt than an Arsenal shirt.
Besides, at this stage, surely The Gunners need a long-term solution? They don’t need somebody to come in and do a job for a few months. They need somebody who can revolutionise this defense and get them competing with the big boys once again. Let’s just hope that Arsene Wenger is already on the hunt for this option.
What’s your take? Should Arsenal take Thomas Vermaelen back on loan?
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