Spanish newspaper Sport has questioned who is to blame for Thomas Vermaelen’s move to Barcelona.
Vermaelen has been struggling with injuries ever since his £15m move from Arsenal last summer and Sport has suggested that some officials at the club could be forced to resign over the affair.
“Who is to blame for the case of Vermaelen? Clearly any company guilty of such a ruinous operation like this would be fired,” reports Sport.
“We must establish responsibilities. If Zubizaretta made the irresponsibility of recruiting the Belgian defender knowing his physical problems, he must go.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was initially criticised for selling Vermaelen and not signing a replacement last summer, but it appears he had the intelligence to realise that his fitness was going to be a long-term problem for the club.
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Arsenal are competitive on different fronts at the moment, with Wenger having the opportunity to draft in another defender this winter, which would give him extra options and ease the burden at the back of the team.
As far as Barcelona are concerned, there seems to be immense frustration over the deal from last summer, with a desire for the club to be extra cautious when they are next allowed to sign players following their transfer ban.
Resignations over the deal are unlikely, but the suggestion that key officials in the deal should walk away from the club prove the strength of feeling that it was a bad move by Barcelona to sign Arsenal’s captain.
