Red Devils Eye Vermaelen – Why Manchester United Can Do Better Than The Arsenal Man

With news coming through of another transfer blow to Manchester United in the form of a rejected offer for Athletic Bilbao’s Ander Herrera, it seems as though the Red Devils can’t find a transfer avenue to pursue. However, it hasn’t deterred their search for other players to bring in.

With their chase of what seems to be half of Europe, they have been linked with some interesting moves in almost every position you can think of. With the departures of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, sorting out the centre-back position has been high on the list of priorities for new United manager Louis van Gaal. One player that has been heavily linked with a move to the Red Devils and who would be able to fill that role is Arsenal‘s Thomas Vermaelen. However, the Daily Star are reporting that the Gunners have rejected the opening bid from their Premier League rivals.

In my opinion, Manchester United should count themselves lucky that Arsenal rejected that bid, as I don’t think Vermaelen is the man that can lead van Gaal’s men up the table to have a shot at the title. There is no doubting that the Belgian is the Arsenal captain for a reason and remains a good player, but I believe United should just go all out to sign a big-name defender. They need to bring someone in that can really replace Vidic.

While it is all very well and good signing Vermaelen for depth, that is the role he already has at Arsenal. Why would he leave to do exactly the same thing at a different club? United already have depth with Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Phil Jones all fighting for regular game time. Ultimately, Vermaelen would have just as much of a fight getting his hands on a starting place at Old Trafford as he does at the Emirates.