Former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen could pick up a Champions League winner’s medal if Barcelona are triumphant in the Berlin final next month – despite the fact that he is yet to make an appearance in the competition this season.
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The Belgian defender joined the La Liga giants from Arsenal for a reported £15million fee last summer but is yet to make his debut for the club because of a thigh injury that had sidelined him for a large chunk of the campaign.
He was named on the bench for the first time this season in the Champions League semi-final first leg tie against Bayern Munich earlier in the month and has been an unused substitute in Barca’s last two games, but his involvement in the squad will enable him to collect a potential winners medal next month.
Mail Online reports that under UEFA rules the winning club are allocated 40 medals which can be distributed however they see fit, meaning the 29 year-old could end a nightmare debut season in Spain with the biggest accolade in European club football.