Rumour: Arsenal reject bid for defensive star

Arsenal have turned down an approach from Italian club Napoli for their club captain, Thomas Vermaelen, the Metro report.

The Belgian’s future has been at the centre of plenty of speculation for quite some time as he continues to struggle to regain his place in the Gunners’ defence.

Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny has been a formidable pairing and Arsenal have not lost a league game for two years when the pair have played the full 90 minutes. Vermaelen is finding it incredibly difficult to find a way back into the side due to their partnership.

With the World Cup coming up, Vermaelen will be keen to play first-team football to guarantee his place in Belgium’s side to travel to Brazil in the summer so a move could be on the cards.

However, Arsenal have rejected an approach from Napoli, stating their captain is not for sale. It is not great news for Vermaelen as he needs to play football otherwise he risks missing out on the World Cup.

The rejection from Arsenal appears not to have deterred Napoli, though, as they seem set on their target.

Vermaelen has played just seven league matches this season, completing 91% of his passes.