By Chris Wright
Arsenal have confirmed that defender Thomas Vermaelen will remain sidelined until January at the earliest with an Achilles injury that was supposed to keep him out for a week or so back in November.
Manager Arsene Wenger told the club’s official site:
“Vermaelen is in a [protective] boot. We want him back and I hope he will be back soon, but not before January.”
Wenger also revealed that Vermaelen’s stand-in, £8.5-million summer signing Laurent Koscielny, is also set to miss the rest of 2010 after suffering severe concussion during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Fulham:
‘The medical team inform me that [Koscielny] has picked up concussion and could be out for three weeks.”
Bum.