Arriving at the Camp Nou with those near-constant comparisons with Xavi and Andres Iniesta still ringing in his ears, Arthur Vermeeren’s Champions League debut away at Barcelona provided a timely reminder of how far he still has to go.
The teenager’s Royal Antwerp’s side hammered 5-0 at the ground where two of the modern era’s great midfielders made their name.
With Robert Lewandowski back in form, Raphinha wreaking havoc, and Joao Felix thriving in new, more suitable surroundings, Barcelona ran riot on Tuesday night.
A five-star, five-goal showing. The Belgian champions welcomed onto the European stage like a spotty year seven on his first day at a particularly mean secondary school; their heads flushed down the nearest toilet.
And for Arthur Vermeeren – the £20 million-rated teenager on the radar of Barcelona as well as Manchester United – that thumping defeat in Catalonia provided plenty of lessons for an 18-year-old midfielder with a lot still to learn, even if he’s aced most of the tests that have come his way so far.
Manchester United love Arthur Vermeeren
“It was difficult for him,” admits Xavi, Barcelona’s head coach and a man Vermeeren has often been likened to (Het Nieuwsblad). “It went well for the first twenty minutes. But, after that, it became more difficult for both Antwerp and him.
”Mark van Bommel’s intentions are very positive, but there is still work to be done. When Antwerp started to struggle – because we played so well – you saw that Vermeeren no longer felt so comfortable.”
Then again, such teething problems were perhaps to be expected. According to Sport, Manchester United are the club showing the greatest interest in a player who established himself as a first-team regular at the age of just 17; Erik ten Hag a huge fan.
Vermeeren has ‘enormous ability’
Vermeeren, of course, is far from the finished article. Then again, who is at this age?
And for Roberto Martinez, the former Belgium coach, one difficult evening away at the Spanish champions should not be used as a yard-stick for a player who’s ‘enormous ability’ should pave the way for an ‘enormous’ future too.
“Vermeeren has an enormous ability to play as a ‘number six’,” Martinez tells Mundo Deportivo. “He has aerial power and, with the ball, he always makes the right decision. (Although he is) at a very young age, he always chooses the best option.
“He is a great player.”
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