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Jack Wilshere says Arsenal once had a defender whose ‘finishing was unreal’
Jack Wilshere has heaped praise on one former Arsenal defender.
The Englishman spent a long time at Arsenal – first as an academy player and later in the first team🌳. He rubbed shoulders with several supe💃rstars at the Emirates Stadium during his time there.
Now, Wilshere has haiꦕled one centre-back who played for Arsenal – not for his defending but because hꦓe could finish as well as an attacker.
Jack Wilshere makes surprise claim on Thomas Vermaelen
Arsenal signed Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax in the summer of 2009.
The Belgian played 150 games for the Gunners over five years and was even named the captain of the club following Robin van Persie’s departure to Manchester United.
Vermaelen, when he was fit, was an incredible defender. He was strong, good in t🐼he 🌳air, aggressive and just so difficult to play against.
To add to all of that, the former Belgium international had a phen꧑ome♈nal left foot, using which he scored a few screamers over the years.
Wilshere was at Arsenal throughout Vermaelen’s career in the Premier League, and he knew the defender’s strengths very well.
In a video with Goal where he was asked to build the per𝕴fect footballer by choosing players he played with, Wilshere picked Vermaelen for having the best left foot.
“I’m going to go Thomas Vermaelen. His finishing was unreal,” Wi෴lsh♈ere said.
That is a bit of a surprise because Wilshere played with a number of other superstars who possessed unbelievable left feet like Van Persie, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski.
READ MORE: Thomas Vermaelen says he absไolutely loves £27m Arsenal player
What happened to Vermaelen after leaving Arsenal?
Vermaelen had a lot of inju🅰ry problems when he was at A♋rsenal and missed games in every season he was at the Emirates.
The Gunners still managed to get £15 mi🧸llᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚion for the Belgian defender in 2014, when Barcelona signed him on a long-term deal ().
Vermaelen’s injury issues troubled him in Spain too. He spent five years on Barca’s books but only managed to make 53 appearances💛.
In 2019, he moved to Japan and joined Vissel Kobe, where he shared the dres𒉰sing room with Barcelona legends Andreas Iniesta and David Villa.
He played 57 games in Japan before announcing𒁃 his retirement in 2022.