You remember TV5, of course. Thomas Vermaelen was once the rock of our defense, someone I figured would be around for a long time. He was with us for five years. He was our captain in 2012-13. He scored goals on occasion, too, some of them big, though only in two seasons (eight in 09-10 and six in 11-12). His form dropped and Mertescielny kept him out of the squad except for rare times when one of them was hurt and he was fit. He got injured a lot (typical for Arsenal). We got 15M pounds for him two years ago from Barcelona, who discovered that it wasn't Arsenal that was keeping him injured.
Imagine my surprise when I watched a Roma-Porto ECL qualifier and heard his name. Yes, there he was, looking determined and aggressive clearing the ball and intercepting passes. It turns out that Barca loaned him to Roma for the season, with an option to buy. That option looks less likely to be exercised after Vermaelen's poor decisionmaking cost him two first half yellow cards and Roma a vital first leg victory. They were very fortunate to hold a rampaging Porto to one second half goal and carry a 1-1 scoreline back to Rome.
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