Liverpool are one of a handful of Premier League clubs who are keen on signing Thomas Vermaelen from Barcelona, according to Spanish fichajes.net, via talkSPORT.
Fichajes.net, via talkSPORT, claims that the ex-Arsenal defender wants to leave the Camp Nou after an injury-ravaged two years, and is angling for a return to England.
Barcelona are willing to sell the Belgian, and Chelsea, West Ham United and Southampton, as well as the Reds, are interested, talkSPORT cites fichajes.net as reporting.
Vermaelen joined Barca from Arsenal in the summer of 2014, but only played once in his first season as he carried his fitness issues with him from London to Spain.
He managed only seven Premier League starts in his final campaign with the Gunners, and missed all but five games of the 2010-11 campaign with an Achilles problem.
But the 30-year-old is currently enjoying his best injury-free run in three years and has managed 16 outings for the Spanish giants in all competitions this term.
Vermaelen showed his class in his time at the Emirates Stadium. He was voted to the PFA Team of the Year in 2009-10, and was fast-tracked to the role of captain by 2012.
Liverpool’s defence is badly lacking leadership and a consistent left-sided centre-back. Vermaelen would help address both of those issues, but would be a high-risk signing.
His injury record, although better this season, is very sketchy, and this campaign has shown us the importance of having a solid and settled centre-back pairing.
None of our centre-backs this season have covered themselves in glory, but Vermaelen does not represent an improvement on Dejan Lovren or Mamadou Sakho, considering his baggage.
Joel Matip is arriving from Schalke to try to plug some of the holes in a defence which has conceded 36 times in 26 league games, but Vermaelen is unlikely to be his partner.
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