Former Barcelona player and current Royal Antwerp manager Mark van Bommel has claimed that 18-year-old midfield talent Arthur Vermeeren can follow a similar development arc to Jude Bellingham. Vermeeren has been linked with some of the top clubs in Europe over the past 12 months, and has looked at home in the Champions League this year.
Barcelona were one of the first sides linked to Vermeeren, as they search for a Sergio Busquets replacement. However of late, it appears Arsenal are best-placed to sign him, with a fee around €20m being predicted. Van Bommel has admitted that it will be tricky for them to keep their top youngster.
“If Europe’s elite are interested in someone, it will be difficult to keep them. Although a large amount of money will have to be invested. And yet I have doubts [he might stay]. Vermeeren can continue adapting to an increasingly higher level. The same thing happened with Bellingham. He can still take steps here and wait for a big club for a while.”
“He has continued to perform, even when all eyes were increasingly focused on him. We are constantly working to ensure he continues to develop. He does it automatically, and that is precisely the natural talent he has,” van Bommel told Gazet van Antwerpen, via MD.
Van Bommel then went on to explain that what stands out about Vermeeren is his football intelligence.
“It’s pure genes. Talent is that you adapt to an increasingly higher level. You have talents that remain at a certain level. And you have talents, real talents, that adapt to an increasingly higher level. From training with the first team, to coming on as a substitute, to getting a starting position, to becoming interested in European football… Arthur understood everything immediately,”
The reality is that Vermeeren looks unlikely to end up anywhere there it is not the Premier League, given he is on the radar of the top clubs now, and has proven at such a young age that he can cut it at the top level. It looks as if Barcelona will have to continue searching for a long-term successor to Busquets, but without the funds they would like to do it.
