Thomas Vermaelen Gaining The Locker Room’s Confidence

Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen is gaining the confidence of the players and staff, says a report in Mundo Deportivo.

Vermaelen is in his fourth season as a Barcelona player, but he’s only made 13 league appearances for the club. He did spend one season on loan to AS Roma, but aside from that, the main reason he has played so little is injuries.

With Samuel Umtiti and Javier Mascherano both out, Vermaelen is the defacto starter alongside Gerard Piqué in the center of defense. So far, the former Arsenal player has played reasonably well and, crucially, avoided injury.

Can Vermaelen maintain fitness and form for the next few weeks? The player surely hopes that he can continue playing a decent amount of minutes, especially as he aims to be a starter for a Belgian team that some are calling a dark horse for the FIFA World Cup in 2018.