By Ollie Irish
Looks very much like Thomas Vermaelen might have fractured his fibula (lower leg) against Villa last night. Arsene Wenger revealed: “The news is not good. [Vermaelen] will have an X-ray on Thursday morning. He is on crutches. It could be a fracture to the top of the fibula. We’ll have to wait and see.”
This sucks for everyone except Arsenal’s Premier/Champion League rivals – including me. Vermaelen has been the defensive backbone of my fantasy team this season and I’m loathe to replace him – as Arsene Wenger must be slightly nervous about replacing him with 35-year-old Sol Campbell (though Sol did pretty well against Villa’s speedy forward line). But replace him we must.
It’s a massive blow for Arsenal. Of all the players to lose at the business end of the season, I believe only Cesc Fabregas is more crucial to the Gunners than Vermaelen. There is the slim hope that it’s a nerve injury, rather than a break, but given Arsenal’s luck with injuries this season, the safe money is on the latter.
UPDATED: He hasn’t broken his leg. Phew.