Thomas Vermaelen
After being named captain last season following the surprise departure of Robin van Persie to Manchester United, it was then equally surprising to see the dramatic dip in form from the Belgian defender. Vermaelen had shown himself to be a real leader and inspiration for the Gunners in his years with the club prior to last season, but now looks a real liability at the back, making several costly individual errors leading to poor goals conceded last season.
Vermaelen has missed the start of this season due to injury, but Arsene Wenger probably won’t be in a particular hurry to get him back in the team, with Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and even makeshift centre-back Bacary Sagna all looking perfectly fine without him. Napoli and Barcelona were supposedly in for him this summer, and he is clearly still a player with some potential, but perhaps his time at Arsenal had better come to an end. Transfer targets such as Ashley Williams and Adil Rami being linked with Arsenal over the summer suggest Wenger may be thinking the same thing.