According to a report in the Spanish paper, Sport, Liverpool and Chelsea are fighting over Thomas Vermaelen after the player allegedly asked his agent to help him get out of Barcelona.

Vermaelen has not enjoyed the best time in Spain since deciding he should leave Arsenal to play for the Catalan giants. Injury ruined his first season at the club, an injury he was carrying when Arsenal gladly accepted Barca’s £14.25m.

Now, we don’t want to feel like we told you so, Thomas, but apart from the rare exception, this is exactly what happens to Arsenal players when they go to Barcelona – a few years later, they end up at some mid-table club before continuing to slide down the leagues.

He has made just six appearances in La Liga this season, five in the Copa del Rey, three in the Champions League and one in both the Club World Cup and Supercopa, giving him a total of 16 appearances across all comps (total 1,199 minutes = approx. 75 minutes per game).

Now 30, he surely realises that his playing days are fast running out and is believed to be looking for a way to get out – enter Liverpool and Chelsea who want him to replace John Terry.

And this isn’t the only former Arsenal captain that Chelsea have been linked with this week. Reports were circulating that they could be interested in signing Robin van Persie who has been enjoying a delightfully torrid time in Turkey.

If you ask me, you couldn’t find a more perfect footballing match than those two. Cnuts all round.