Thomas Vermaelen has admitted he is desperate to put his injury problems behind him after putting pen to paper on a five-year contract with Barcelona.
The Belgian central defender was only able to feature in 21 matches in all competitions for Arsenal last season due to a series of problems, and his woes continued into the summer as he suffered a hamstring strain during the World Cup to restrict him to just one outing in Brazil.
The 28 year-old is still in the final stages of recovering and will not be able to immediately begin full training with his new club, and he admitted the last few months have been a frustrating period.
“I want to start again from zero and play a lot of games. I had a lot of problems last season but that was just a coincidence,” he said.
“I hope that at Barca, whose medical services and physios are among the very best, everything will be behind me. I think coming to Barca will make me stronger.”
Once he has regained full fitness, Vermaelen is relishing the opportunity of competing with Gerard Pique, Marc Bartra and fellow new signing Jeremy Mathieu for a regular place in the back four. “It’s a challenge to play for such a big club,” he said.
“It will be a challenge to play with the best players in the world and train with them every day.
“Barca is one of the biggest clubs in the world so it wasn’t a difficult decision to come here, even though I had financially better offers from elsewhere. I don’t know whether I’ll play or not, or in which position the manager wants to use me. I will have to prove my worth. I will improve as a player and I hope to adapt to this great club.”
Meanwhile, Barca’s busy summer in the transfer market continued yesterday as they announced the departure of Ibrahim Afellay on a season-long loan to Greek champions Olympiakos.
The Dutch midfielder, 28, has made just two appearances for Barca in the last two campaigns, missing most of last season through injury. This is the final year of his contract at the Nou Camp and he is unlikely to play for the club again.
