Thomas Vermaelen may leave, says Arsene Wenger

Zee Media Bureau/Dattaraj Thaly

New Delhi: The trend of Arsenal`s club captain leaving the club in the summer is set to continue this year as well. Manager Arsene Wenger has indicated Thomas Vermaeleb may leave the North London club before the transfer window concludes on August 1. Since joining the Gunners from Ajax in 2009, the Belgian defender has appeared 150 times for the club in all competitions. The 28-year-old made just 14 appearances for Arsenal in 2013-14 season. While addressing a press conference on Friday, the Frenchman said: " It is a possibility that he goes." Thomas Vermaelen, who was part of the Belgium squad in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil has been heavily linked with a move to rivals Manchester United. After Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, he could be the fourth Gunners captain to move out of the club. So far Arsene Wenger has been uncharacteristically busy in the transfer market having already snapped up Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, David Ospina and Calum Chambers. However, the manager admitted having to find a replacement for the centre-back if he departs and even termed him as an "important player in the squad". On the possibility of him signing more player, Wenger was rather positive as he said: "I am very happy because I did what I wanted and I am still hoping to do more. It is 1 August and the transfer window closes on the 31st. It is a long time. We are a bit ahead of what we usually do because the availability on the market was bigger than before." After winning his first trophy for nine seasons, the French manager seems to have rediscovered his old self. After losing steam in the last few laps of Premier League season 2013-14, Wenger has not only identified the critical problems plaguing the club but has addressed quite a few of them already.