Barca make formal approach for Gunners captain.
Arsenal have received a formal £10 million offer from Spanish giants Barcelona for star defender Thomas Vermaelen, according to the Telegraph.
The Spanish giants are currently searching for a long term replacement to retired icon Carles Puyol, and have now reportedly approached the north London outfit with an official approach to bring him to Spain.
The Belgian international had originally been on the radar of Manchester United and Vermaelen had apparently already agreed a deal in principle to join the Red Devils, but Arsenal are reluctant to sell such a versatile player – even if he is not now among their first-choice starters – especially to one of their main Premier League rivals.
Talks are now being held between Arsenal and Barcelona, with the Spaniards hopeful of being able to speak to Vermaelen soon to convince him to ditch the idea of heading to Manchester.
Vermaelen has fallen behind Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker among Arsenal’s first-choice centre-backs and knows this is unlikely to change unless there are injuries, and he has told Wenger that he is desperate to play more regular first team football at this stage of his career.
The deal with United would have seen him net £100,000 per week, so Barca will likely have to top that if they are to convince him to join them.
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