Vermaelen is staying at the Emirates for the time being.
Despite spending most of this season on the bench, the agent of Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen insists the defender will not be moving to Juventus or Napoli.
The centre-back was thought to be a target for the Serie A duo in January, as the 27-year-old looks to achieve first team football during a World Cup year.
Vermaelen’s national team Belgium have qualified for the biggest international tournament for the first time since 2002 and with competition fierce to get a place, the player needs to be showing the manager that he should be included.
However, the Belgian’s agent Alex Kroes says that the skipper will not be leaving for Italy.
“I want to distance myself from, and deny, these rumours. I deny absolutely everything,” Kroes told NapoliCalcioLive.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger views Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker as the Frenchman’s first choice central defensive partnership and with the north London club topping the Premier League and their Champions League group, that is unlikely to change any time soon.
Vermaelen has started just one match for Wenger this term and that was in the League Cup victory over West Bromwich Albion.
The defender also has 41 caps for the Belgium as well, but has fallen behind the likes of Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany and Tottenham Hotspur’s Jan Vertonghen in the pecking order.
With Toby Alderweireld also impressing at Atletico Madrid, Vermaelen could well need to move away from the Emirates Stadium in order to be on the plane to Brazil next summer.
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