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Arsenal and Belgium defender Thomas Vermaelen further showed against Spurs why Arsene Wenger brought him to the club, and the 23 year old is making an early claim to be the Premiership buy of the summer. Wenger seems to have pulled another cracker out of the bag, as Vermaelen confidently dealt with the presence of Peter Crouch on Saturday and looked confident and composed throughout. The £10 million transfer is looking like being a very good bit of business for Arsenal, but who else can challenge the Belgian for being the best Premier League buy of the summer?
Thomas Vermaelen would have been an unknown to many Arsenal and England football fans in the summer. Vermaelen has previously played for Ajax and has earned 21 caps for his national team, but he didn’t seem to be on the radar of many Premiership clubs. But credit to Wenger, he obviously did his research and the defender looks like being a great player for the club. The Belgian centre back has even surprised Wenger at how quickly he has settled into the English game, looking comfortable in defence and venturing forward on occasion to bag himself 4 league goals already this season.
Vermaelen’s first North London derby provided a stern test for him in the shape of Spurs’ Peter Crouch. The 6ft defender was giving away plenty of height to the England international, but he dealt admirably with the tall striker and hardly gave Crouch a sniff at goal. Vermaelen passed the aerial test with flying colours and Arsenal fans will be very pleased with his performances thus far. The defender looks calm and collected at the back, is comfortable on the ball and has already shown that he is a threat in the air and can strike a good ball as illustrated by the video below. In my opinion he brings far more stability to the Arsenal defence than Kolo Toure, and Gunners fans should be delighted with the business their club has done over the summer.
[youtube pFsUQ09fmH8&feature=related]
Elsewhere is the Premiership a couple of other players are staking their claim to be the purchase of the summer as well. Darren Bent has hit the ground running since his £10 million move from Tottenham to Sunderland. Bent has scored 8 league goals this season, putting him behind only Drogba and Torres in the Premier League goal scoring charts. However, a couple of misses against West Ham at the Stadium of Light on Saturday showed that he is not always clinical in front of goal.
Personally I have been very impressed by James Collins for Aston Villa thus far, who has slotted into a new look defence alongside Dunne and Warnock with little fuss. Gareth Barry also looks the business for Manchester City, providing City’s midfield with both attacking and defensive qualities. But who do you think has been the best buy of the season so far and which player will go on to become a Premier League great?
