5 players who left Arsenal to find success

#5 Thomas Vermaelen

Thomas Vermaelen won more trophies at Barcelona than at Arsenal despite his injury issues

Belgian centre-back Thomas Vermaelen is almost certainly the most curious entry on this list. Like the players mentioned prior to him, his trophy haul increased massively once he left Arsenal. But unlike those players, there’s an argument to be made that his actual prime came when he was with the Gunners rather than with Barcelona – the club he found all of his success with.

Vermaelen made the move to Arsenal in the summer of 2009, joining from Ajax for a fee of €10m as the replacement for Kolo Toure who had been sold to Manchester City earlier that summer. Forming a defensive partnership with William Gallas, the Belgian quickly established himself as not just one of the best central defenders in the Premier League, but in the world too.

Overall Vermaelen spent 5 seasons at the Emirates. And outside of his 2010-11 season which was curtailed by injuries, he was largely ever-present, putting together 110 appearances for the Gunners in the Premier League alone.

2013-14 saw him make fewer appearances, but it was during that season he won his lone trophy at Arsenal – the FA Cup.

The summer of 2014 saw him unexpectedly sign with Barcelona. But his difficult history with injuries raised its head once again, and it took him until May 2015 to make his debut for the Blaugrana.

Despite this though, the Belgian won the LaLiga with his new club that season. He went on to repeat the feat a further four times, as well as winning the Copa del Rey 3 times and the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup too - despite only making a total of 53 appearances at the club.