Thomas Vermaelen

He became the 84th Arsenal player to score in their debut.

He then scored a brace against Wigan Athletic in a 4–0 victory.

Arsenal fans voted him as their Player of the Month twice in a row on Arsenal.com, and affectionately nicknamed him the "Verminator".

However, he scored an own goal in a home match against Chelsea when a cross came in from Ashley Cole.

The match finished 0–3 to Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

Thomas Vermaelen (born 14 November 1985) is a Belgian former professional footballer.

Being left-footed, he usually played as a left-sided centre-back and could play at left-back as well.

His key attributes included aerial ability, leadership skills, and his quickness with the ball at his feet.

He was also known for his goalscoring ability as a defender.

Vermaelen joined the Ajax youth academy in 2000 and won the 2003–04 Eredivisie title in his first season with the club.

He had a loan spell with RKC Waalwijk before rejoining Ajax and winning the KNVB Cup and Johan Cruyff Shield.

He made his professional debut on 15 February 2004 in a 0–2 away win over FC Volendam.

His breakthrough came when he returned to Ajax and won the KNVB Cup.

Performances that season resulted in a call-up to the Belgium national football team.

Vermaelen made his international debut for Belgium in 2006, and took part at the 2008 Olympics, where Belgium came fourth, as well as the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018 (where Belgium came third), and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2021.

Born in Kapellen, Belgium, Vermaelen started his youth career in his home country with Germinal Ekeren, which later became Germinal Beerschot after a merger.

Vermaelen joined the academy of Dutch club Ajax.

Ajax won the Johan Cruyff Shield and another KNVB Cup the following season and in 2007, they won the Johan Cruyff Shield for the second consecutive time.

He forged a partnership with fellow academy graduate John Heitinga and later Jan Vertonghen when Heitinga left for Atlético Madrid in Spain.

Following the departure of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in mid-season, Vermaelen served as captain of Ajax for the remainder of the 2008–09 season, where he mostly played as a left-back.

After Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's departure in 2009, he served as club captain for the remainder of the season.

He joined Arsenal in 2009 and was included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for that season.

Vermaelen joined Arsenal from Ajax for an initial fee of €10 million (rising to €12 million) on 19 June 2009, signing a four-year contract.

After Kolo Touré surrendered the number 5 jersey to him upon joining Manchester City, Vermaelen, with William Gallas, formed Arsenal's central defence pairing.

Vermaelen made his Premier League debut on 15 August 2009 in a 1–6 away win against Everton, and scored in the 37th minute.

Vermaelen became notable for being a goal-scoring defender during the first half of Arsenal's 2009–10 season.

In recognition of his contributions, he was nominated for the Belgian Sportsman of the year award and was also included in the PFA Team of the Season.

Vermaelen finished the season with 45 games and eight goals in all competitions under his belt.

In the pre-season of the 2010–11 season, Vermaelen captained Arsenal in an Emirates Cup match against Milan with regular captain Cesc Fàbregas and vice-captains Manuel Almunia and Robin van Persie not in the squad.

Vermaelen started all of the first three Arsenal matches of the season before suffering an Achilles tendon injury on international duty with Belgium.

He had a new injury setback when manager Arsène Wenger reported that the Achilles tendon problem would keep him out of action for an unforeseeable time.

On 17 March 2011, Wenger confirmed that Vermaelen would miss the remainder of the season with a new injury setback, but on 26 April, Vermaelen played 90 minutes in his first competitive game after eight months in a reserves game against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 28 April.

On 8 May, he was included in Arsenal's 18-man squad travelling to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

However, Vermaelen was an unused substitute, but on 15 May, he finally returned in Arsenal's 2–1 defeat to Aston Villa and played the full 90 minutes.

Following Cesc Fàbregas' transfer to Barcelona in August 2011, Vermaelen was named vice-captain of Arsenal, with Robin van Persie named captain.

On 6 September 2011, Vermaelen had treatment on his Achilles tendon which ruled him out for six weeks.

On 18 October 2011, he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club for an additional four years.

Following Robin van Persie's transfer to Manchester United in August 2012, he was named club captain but found first team opportunities limited due to the success of Arsenal's new first-choice defensive partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny.

In August 2014, he completed a £15 million transfer to Barcelona in La Liga.

In 2019, he joined Vissel Kobe before retiring in 2021.