Man United have made a move for Thomas Vermaelen [Sky Sports]

Man United have made a move for Arsenal & Belgium defender Thomas Vermaelen [Sky Sports]

Sky Sports employee Graeme Bailey has got a lot of attention on Twitter on Saturday afternoon linking Manchester United to an Arsenal defender.

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According to Bailey, Man United have made a move for Arsenal and Belgium defender Thomas Vermaelen.

Unfortunately for those trying to get to the bottom of the story, no details are provided on the nature of the deal, the transfer fee, nor the likelihood of the approach coming off.

News surrounding Vermaelen’s potential departure from the Emirates is nothing new, with the 28-year-old Belgian having been restricted in appearances last season for Arsene Wenger, plus the knowledge that Vermaelen’s deal at the Gunners expires next summer.

All those factors have seen teams like Fiorentina and Man United get linked to the defender in recent days.

Manchester United are also in need of a new centre-half, having seen Nemanja Vidic join Inter Milan.
It is rumoured that Vermaelen would cost around £12m.

For the record, back in January Arsene Wenger went on the record to say he’d like to keep the Belgium at the Emirates. Wenger said:

I’m open to it, I’m ready to extend his contract. Of course we want Thomas Vermaelen to be happy and to have the number of games a player of his class deserves. But on my side I have a huge respect for his quality and attitude and I am ready to extend his contract.