Jack Wilshere has heaped praise on one former Arsenal defender.
The Englishman spent a long time at Arsenal – first as an academy player and later in the first team. He rubbed shoulders with several superstars at the Emirates Stadium during his time there.
Now, Wilshere has hailed one centre-back who played for Arsenal – not for his defending but because he could finish as well as an attacker.
Jack Wilshere makes surprise claim on Thomas Vermaelen
Arsenal signed Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax in the summer of 2009.
The Belgian played 150 games for the Gunners over five years and was even named the captain of the club following Robin van Persie’s departure to Manchester United.
Vermaelen, when he was fit, was an incredible defender. He was strong, good in the air, aggressive and just so difficult to play against.
To add to all of that, the former Belgium international had a phenomenal left foot, using which he scored a few screamers over the years.
Wilshere was at Arsenal throughout Vermaelen’s career in the Premier League, and he knew the defender’s strengths very well.
In a video with Goal where he was asked to build the perfect footballer by choosing players he played with, Wilshere picked Vermaelen for having the best left foot.
“I’m going to go Thomas Vermaelen. His finishing was unreal,” Wilshere said.
That is a bit of a surprise because Wilshere played with a number of other superstars who possessed unbelievable left feet like Van Persie, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski.
What happened to Vermaelen after leaving Arsenal?
Vermaelen had a lot of injury problems when he was at Arsenal and missed games in every season he was at the Emirates.
The Gunners still managed to get £15 million for the Belgian defender in 2014, when Barcelona signed him on a long-term deal (BBC).
Vermaelen’s injury issues troubled him in Spain too. He spent five years on Barca’s books but only managed to make 53 appearances.
In 2019, he moved to Japan and joined Vissel Kobe, where he shared the dressing room with Barcelona legends Andreas Iniesta and David Villa.
He played 57 games in Japan before announcing his retirement in 2022.
