He may not have been seen as a glamour signing on his arrival in N5 - but Vermaelen quickly proved he could be a key man for the Gunners
Plucked from the youth system of Belgian side Germinal Beerschot aged just 15 by Ajax, and placed in the club’s much vaunted academy system, Vermaelen was moulded into a composed, disciplined, ball playing centre half with a real aerial presence, despite not ever being exceptionall tall (he now stands at 6ft0)
The Belgian replace Klass-Jan Huntelaar as captain at the Amsterdam ArenA for the 2008/09 season, before making what was seen by some a surprise move to Premier League giants Arsenal in June 2009.
The centre-back quickly went about establishing himself as an imposing figure at both ends of the pitch – scoring five goals in his first 11 first team outings and adding some much needed steel and stability to an Arsenal backline that had looked decidedly shaky in recent seasons.