by Nia Griffiths

Thomas Vermaelen has apparently been asked to hand back his Champion’s League winner’s medal due to not playing for Barcelona at all this season.

The rumour appears to have originated on Dutch site Voetbalkrant on Tuesday 8th June. However, the British press have now started to pick up on the controversial story – several days later.

Loosely translated (by the ever-trustworthy Google Translate), the Dutch piece explains that because the defender – along with teammates Claudio Bravo, Jordi Masip and Douglas Pereira – played exactly zero minutes for Barcelona this season, Uefa want to step in and take their winner’s medals.

If the report is true, they’ve got a point. Winning a Champion’s League medal is the stuff of dreams and for someone who’s effective done nothing for the team this season to receive one, it seems like a bit of a farce.

Vermaelen suffered from a hamstring injury for most of the 2014/15 season and only returned in April. However, he was unable to make the Barcelona starting 11 and saw out the rest of the season from the bench. Once again, making it clear that Arsene Wenger knew exactly what he was doing by selling an injury-prone player for a reported £15m.