Former Barça defender Thomas Vermaelen announced on Friday that he is retiring from professional football at the age of 36 after more than 20 seasons with Ajax Amsterdam, RKC Waalwijk, Arsenal, AS Roma, Vissel Kobe and, of course, FC Barcelona where he spent four seasons between 2014 and 2019.
53 games as a blaugrana
The Belgian international made 53 appearances for Barça, scoring once against Málaga in August 2015. After injury limited him to just one appearance in his first season as a blaugrana, in his second he made 20 appearances before spending a season on loan at Italian club AS Roma.
On his return to Barcelona he made another 32 appearances in his final two seasons before signing for Japanese club Vissel Kobe in 2019.
With Barça he won a total of 11 trophies; four La Liga titles, a Champions League, three Copas del Rey, a UEFA Super Cup, a World Club Cup and a Spanish Super Cup. Vermaelen also made 85 appearances for the Belgian national side, scoring two goals.
