With Barcelona winning the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League, there has been controversy over whether Arsenal will bank money as part of Thomas Vermaelen’s transfer or not.
The former captain departed to Barcelona last summer for £15m in a transfer that included a number of club-related bonuses.
One of those was a £3m payment if Barça successfully secured the Champions League title. The treble winners were crowned champions of Europe on Saturday evening and the question remains: Will Arsenal celebrate the Catalan win with their finest champagne having secured extra monetary bonus?
Vermaelen has featured only once for Barcelona in a catastrophic season where the Belgian national spent most of his time away from the football grounds, due to a severe thigh injury.
According to The Telegraph, Arsenal are set to receive an extra £3m that will go back into Arsène Wenger’s transfer pot regardless of the extent of Vermaelen’s involvement.
However, the London Evening Standard are reporting that Arsenal are denied the bonus as the Belgian did not play for a single minute in Europe’s elite competition this season.
Whether or not Arsenal have indeed profited from the triumph is something that only representatives from both clubs will know, with Wenger previously coyly stating: “I have to check his contract.”
