Having announced his return from injury with “that” goal against West Brom in gameweek eleven, Thomas Vermaelen leaps into our newly-updated Watchlist rankings. With a favourable run of fixtures on the horizon for the foreseeable future, the Belgian seems poised for investment as the new-look Arsenal begin to click into place.
Absent for two months with an ankle problem, Vermaelen’s return to the Gunners back-four saw Arsene Wenger’s side record back-to-back clean sheets at the Emirates a fortnight ago. A goalless draw with Marseille in the Champions League was followed by a 3-0 canter over the Baggies, with Arsenal hinting at the “maturity” Arsene Wenger recently spoke of. Vermaelen’s first start since gameweek two coincided with Arsenal’s first clean sheet in the league since gameweek six and saw him return a 15 point haul for his Fantasy owners, with 3 bonus points also picked up for his display at both ends of the pitch.
Despite a wealth of centre-halves to choose from, Wenger tends to favour the Belgian when fit. Vermaelen is far more than just a conventional defender- though an Achilles injury blighted his appearances last term, he grabbed 7 goals in his debut campaign for Arsenal back in 2009/10 and has taken little time to serve a reminder of his attacking sensibilities.
A partnership with Per Mertesacker could flourish at the heart of the back-four, though the likes of Laurent Koscielny will also come into the equation, with Johan Djourou and Sebastien Squillaci set to stay peripheral figures, perhaps only called upon when injuries deprive Wenger of first-choice options.
The loss of Cesc Fabregas is now behind them and with five wins in the last six league games, it’s clear the new summer signings are starting to gel. A look at the upcoming schedule (nor, FUL, wig, EVE, mci, avl, WOL, QPR) only offers more promise of Fantasy returns and with just one of the next eight fixtures posing any major difficulty, the 6.7 priced Vermaelen could provide a timely boost for any potential backers.
