THOMAS VERMAELEN IS confident he can handle the pressures associated with playing for Barcelona after agreeing a five-year contract.
Vermaelen’s transfer from Arsenal was confirmed last night and the Belgium international defender believes his experiences at the Emirates Stadium will stand him in good stead for life at Barca.
After five years in the Premier League the 28-year-old knows he will need to adapt his game but is excited about the challenge ahead of him with the Catalan giants.
“The pressure is like always,” he told Barca’s official website. “I played for Arsenal and it’s no different to this club, you need to win every single game and I understand there will always be pressure to deliver a good performance.
“I feel very happy, I am very excited to play for this beautiful club.
“It’s one of the best in the world, it’s a dream for a lot people to play for this club and I can play for this club for the next five seasons, so I’m very happy with that.”
Vermaelen could make his debut in tomorrow’s friendly against Leon but is more likely to feature in their opening game of the Liga season against Elche.
The former Ajax man is the sixth new arrival at the Camp Nou ahead of the new season with Jeremy Mathieu also joining the club as they look to strengthen their defensive options.
Classy operator. Real professional attitude despite not playing regularly for Arsenal last while. Great that Utd didn’t get him too.
Apparently he wanted to go to Utd but Arsenal wanted Smalling as part exchange. Not a bad 2nd option mind you
He can’t start at arsenal so he moves to Barcelona….makes sense
It’ll be interesting to see will he play ahead of Pique and Mathieu.
Really good defender,I agree with Van Gaals choice not to put smalling in the offer as he is an upcoming talent.Much better than jones and Evans imo