FC Barcelona are looking for a midfielder who can cover for Oriol Romeu, as the La Masia graduate is currently the only player who plays naturally in the midfield pivot position in the Barcelona squad.
The Catalans are monitoring several players for this role, and one of the players linked with the club in recent days has been Arthur Vermeeren, who plays for the Belgian side Royal Antwerp.
Vermeeren a topic of discussion in the official lunch
Barcelona and Antwerp faced off in the UEFA Champions League two days ago, and as is the custom, this match was preceded by a lunch involving the higher-ups of the two clubs.
Several topics were discussed during this lunch, and according to Mundo Deportivo, one of these topics discussed between Deco and Mark Overmars was that of Vermeeren.
The two officials discussed the rapid rise of the midfielder but limited their discussion only to sporting matters, and any economic aspects of a potential move were not brought up in this meeting.
Antwerp value Vermeeren at around €20 million
It has been reported that the Belgians are open to selling the player and would demand an amount of around €20 million to let their star player leave. The Antwerp head coach, Mark von Bommel, has openly talked about his departure recently.
Meanwhile, Barcelona will continue to monitor him in the upcoming days and have not made a decision about the player yet. The Catalans are attracted by the qualities of the midfielder though.
Barcelona took note of the player’s profile as he visited Montjuic for the last match on Tuesday. However, this match was overshadowed by Barcelona’s dominant performance, and Vermeeren had only a discreet outing in this match.
Now, the Catalans will once again monitor him in the return leg in Belgium and then take their time to make a decision about pursuing him further.
