Thomas Vermaelen

[SPL]

Good news. With him Heits and Silva only question now is will Urby stay at left back or will Vertonghen play at left back!!

[Kowalczyk]

Good news. With him Heits and Silva only question now is will Urby stay at left back or will Vertonghen play at left back!!

I hope it'll be Vertonghen...

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Thomas Vermaelen picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Roda JC today, and will be suspended for next week's home game against Willem II.

K.

[Philippe]

They say Aston Villa want Vermaelen.

[Van basten]

They say Aston Villa want Vermaelen.

Sunderland also.

[Orange14]

I've seen the report and the price will be 10 million euros. Sunderland will not have this kind of money. Aston Villa might since if they don't finish fourth in the EPL (which is likely since they are melting down) they will lose their key midfielder Garreth Barry who wants to play CL football and almost headed off to Liverpool this season. If that happens, they need more help in the mid-field than in the back line. I don't put much faith in this story.

[Kowalczyk]

It's simple: qualify for the Champions League and he'll say no to second rate clubs like that.

F*ck it up again and he'll go for it.

A half-decent player will only be interested in a move from Ajax to Aston Villa, Fiorentina or Mallorca if he never wins anything with Ajax - and never gets to play in the Champions League with us. Which is exactly what has been the case in recent years and it will have to change. If a player knows that three seasons at Ajax are guaranteed to bring him at least one Dutch title, one or two Dutch cup finals (including the big Leidseplein celebrations, etc. etc.) and gets to play in the Champions League two or three times, he will absolutely not be interested in a move to Aston Villa, Everton or Sunderland.

So it's in our own hands, really.

K.

[aveslacker]

IIRC that was a report from Goal.com that quoted one of the English tabloids. I'll wait until I see something from a more reliable source than that.

[SPL]

Villa have said they are not interested. As for Sunderland they are a small completely insignificant club.

[bluedaddy19]

It's simple: qualify for the Champions League and he'll say no to second rate clubs like that.

F*ck it up again and he'll go for it.

A half-decent player will only be interested in a move from Ajax to Aston Villa, Fiorentina or Mallorca if he never wins anything with Ajax - and never gets to play in the Champions League with us. Which is exactly what has been the case in recent years and it will have to change. If a player knows that three seasons at Ajax are guaranteed to bring him at least one Dutch title, one or two Dutch cup finals (including the big Leidseplein celebrations, etc. etc.) and gets to play in the Champions League two or three times, he will absolutely not be interested in a move to Aston Villa, Everton or Sunderland.

So it's in our own hands, really.

K.

hmmmm... i would heartily disagree with you placing everton/villa in the same boat as sunderland

many players absolutely would jump for everton, where as very few would head to s'land

[Kowalczyk]

I was talking about the English top four versus 'the rest'.

A player who can win Dutch titles with Ajax and play in the Champions League two out of three seasons, will only be interested in Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea. All other clubs will not be of interest to him (no step forward).

K.

[SPL]

Would agree with you Ko. I did read a while ago that Vertonghen said he would like to go to one of the big 4 but would not be interested in teams like Everton and Middlesbrough( from memory he did mention those 2)

I think in England outside the big 4 Villa Everton Spurs and now Man City are the clubs who are rated better than the rest ie they are UEFA cup teams. Ajax need to get back into the CL again and regularly and they will not lose players to those teams outside the big 4.

[Kowalczyk]

Okay, so according to The Sun Arsenal's bid for Vermaelen is now alightly more than 10 million pounds (or 11.5 million euros). I now: it's The Sun, not the world's most reliable newspaper, but I have a feeling that this is gonna happen. Vermaelen off to the Gunners.

Question is: how bad would that be?

My good mate Bastiaan just sent me an e-mail in which he wrote: "Shame. I would have loved to see Vermaelen play under a real coach." I agree on that one: Vermaelen (and a few other talented youngsters, including Vertonghen and Urby) have not made any significant tactical progress under that bunch of bunglers we've had as head-coaches in recent years. All of those players would have been better than they are now, if they'd worked with a proper 'teacher' like Van Gaal or Adriaanse for a couple of seasons.

Vermaelen would have been a mature, fully-fledged defender under those men. Now he's not. He's getting there (good player), but he's not quite there yet. I think he will make a huge leap forward under a man like Wenger - and then we can see on TV how good he could have been for us.

Anyway - that's all theory. For the Thomas Vermaelen we have now, 11.5 million is a fair transfer fee. I think he's still 'replaceable'. And I think he'll be alright at Arsenal.

Let's just hope he's the only one we'll sell this summer.

K.

[bluedaddy19]

Anyway - that's all theory. For the Thomas Vermaelen we have now, 11.5 million is a fair transfer fee. I think he's still 'replaceable'.

K.

marek suchy

problem more than solved for 40% of the vermaelen income

[bluedaddy19]

I was talking about the English top four versus 'the rest'.

A player who can win Dutch titles with Ajax and play in the Champions League two out of three seasons, will only be interested in Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea. All other clubs will not be of interest to him (no step forward).

K.

;)

[Kowalczyk]

According to newspaper Algemeen Dagblad Ajax and Arsenal are close to an agreement. Reported transfer fee: somewhere between 12 and 13 million euros.

I have to say: that's very good money - and I can't blame Ajax for letting him go for that. When I first read about Arsenal's interest in Vermaelen, I thought we'd probably get 6 or 7.

It's a shame to see him go, of course, but for 12 million you can buy a decent replacement, for sure.

K.

[Philippe]

It's a shame to see him go, of course, but for 12 million you can buy a decent replacement, for sure.

K.

I would certainly not say "for sure" given our history.

[Kowalczyk]

NOS Teletekst reports that Ajax and Arsenal have reached an agreement. 13 million.

They're always reliable, so you can take that as a fact.

Vermaelen and his agent are still in talks about the terms of the contract.

K.

[bluedaddy19]

NOS Teletekst reports that Ajax and Arsenal have reached an agreement. 13 million.

They're always reliable, so you can take that as a fact.

Vermaelen and his agent are still in talks about the terms of the contract.

K.

quite a good price if you ask me

now go get marek suchy!!

[SPL]

Daily Mail states Jol is livid that Ajax are selling him and he wanted to build his defence around him. Also the fee £10m includes add ons if Arsenal win anything . Well they are not going to win the CL or premiership with their current bunch of lightweights so we will not be getting £10m in full. Ajax have agreed a fee which they say is good . We will have to wait and see but it appears we are selling a player
against the wishes of our new coach and probably not for the amount stated. For £10m read £7m .

[bluedaddy19]

Daily Mail states Jol is livid that Ajax are selling him and he wanted to build his defence around him. Also the fee £10m includes add ons if Arsenal win anything . Well they are not going to win the CL or premiership with their current bunch of lightweights so we will not be getting £10m in full. Ajax have agreed a fee which they say is good . We will have to wait and see but it appears we are selling a player
against the wishes of our new coach and probably not for the amount stated. For £10m read £7m .

you can't possibly expect us to take the daily mail's report to the letter... right?

[Monkey Tonk]

Ironic that Ajax has such a hard time fielding a strong defense. I suppose that's what happens when youth players with the most talent are automatically assigned a position on offense or midfield. Defense has become the ugly duckling at Ajax, in the same way that kids playing soccer always let the worst among them play goalie. The only difference is that they play for fun, and Ajax should be playing for more.

For too long Ajax has neglected their D. It's become so accepted that the immediate reaction to Vermaelen's transfer is that we should be able to buy another defender with that money. As if it's a striker that must be replaced...

Ajax doesn't produce any strikers anymore either, but that's another story, largely due to the fact that kids in that position are trained not to think goal first, but to think bounce the ball back first; god forbid that the ball should end up in the net. And so, at the very heart of the system is a philosophy that's turned soccer inside out. The idea is absolutely brilliant. After all, what is a strong opponent to think when it finds that Ajax not only isn't really trying to prevent them from scoring, but will also gladly prevent themselves from burying the ball in the net? Once such an opponent reaches the zenith of confusion, which couldn't possibly be very long, they're bound to fall over in utter amazement and be easy prey!

Offense attracts the crowds. Defense wins championships. 'Playing possession' does neither.

[bluedaddy19]

Offense attracts the crowds. Defense wins championships. 'Playing possession' does neither.

dear monkey tonk,

please reconsider this view

love,
barcelona and spain

[Cedric]

I noticed that Vermaelen has "curiously" disappeared from the "shirt.ajax.nl website"... He was with Suarez, Vertonghen and Blind when the away shirt was presented.

[Kowalczyk]

Arsenal and Vermaelen have now reached an agreement about the terms of the player's contract.

Medical on Friday - and then he will pen the deal.

I'm sorry to see him go, but I have to say: 13 million is a very good price...

K.