Former Gunners skipper disappointed by player sales.
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Former Arsenal captain Tony Adams has admitted his disappointment at his old club allowing another big-name player to leave this summer as Thomas Vermaelen was confirmed as a new signing for Barcelona, the Daily Mirror reports.
The Gunners have a history of letting their best players leave for bigger clubs in recent years, with Barcelona having previously snapped up a number of the club’s best talent with moves for the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Thierry Henry and Alex Song.
Vermaelen has now become the latest to swap the Emirates Stadium for the Nou Camp, joining Barca in a £15m move to leave Arsene Wenger’s side somewhat short of options in central defence, despite some encouraging displays from summer signing Calum Chambers in that role in pre-season.
Still, Chambers largely played as a right-back at previous club Southampton and remains a player for the future, despite Wenger forking out as much as £16m for the 19-year-old in this year’s transfer window, and he may not be ready to fill in for Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny on a regular basis.
Adams feels Arsenal let their best players go too easily, and that Vermaelen should have been kept around as a backup, even if he was not happy with no longer being first choice.
“It seems kind of too easy to say, ‘I’m not playing – off I go’. It seems like it’s far too easy to let these people walk out the door,” the former defender said.
“There are no more excuses, for me. The finance is there, everything’s in place. Don’t let your players go. Challenge for the title.”
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