After much speculation we heard official confirmation that Arsenal’s skipper and central defender Thomas Vermaelen has been signed by FC Barcelona on a five-year contract. Arsenal agreed to sell Vermaelen to Barça for £15m. Here I take a look at five possible players from the EPL who would make a good replacement in his absence.
Daniel Agger
Daniel Agger (29), who has been Liverpool’s vice-captain since 2013, was once described by Jonathan Wilson in Sports Illustrated as “a fine reader of the game, comfortable on the ball and blessed with a ferocious shot.” Despite this comment back in 2012 looking into his Squawka’s statistics, Agger does not appear to have made as much of an impact defensively as my other choices.
He started his senior career with Brøndby IF in 2004 after transferring from the youth squad to the first team in July of that year. In 2005 he started playing for the senior Danish national football team. After much speculation about a move to the Premier League Agger signed for Liverpool in January 2006 during the winter transfer window. Up until May 2006 he only managed a handful of games due to injury but in May 2006 was fit enough to play ten games for Denmark during which time he scored three goals. However, much of the 2007-08 saw him sitting the season out due to a metatarsal injury – in total he only made a total of five appearances. Agger’s appearances for Liverpool have been pretty inconsistent over the past five seasons – as much as 35 games (2012-13) to as little as 16 games (2010-11).
Having played for Liverpool since 2006 and, during that time in the main playing second fiddle to Škrtel, is it time for him to move on?