Man Utd, Arsenal both beaten as midfielder signs mammoth contract in transfer to Euro giant

Arthur Vermeeren

Manchester United and Arsenal have both missed out on signing a thriving Belgian midfielder who’s joined Atletico Madrid, and the financial details of the colossal coup have been revealed.

It’s been a frustratingly quiet window at Old Trafford and the Emirates on the arrivals front. Neither Man Utd or Arsenal have room for manoeuvre with regards to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules.

As such, deals for players who can make a difference have been put on ice until the summer. Indeed, transfer insider Dean Jones exclusively told TEAMtalk back in December that Arsenal had shelved their plans to sign Arthur Vermeeren until the off-season.

The 18-year-old excelled at club side Royal Antwerp and is already a fully-fledged Belgium international.

The central midfielder helped Antwerp to a league and cup double in Belgium last term and was named the country’s Young Footballer of the Year for the 2022/23 campaign.

Arsenal monitored the player, as did Man Utd. News from Belgium over Christmas claimed the Red Devils were fully prepared to barge Arsenal aside when the time came to act on their interest.

However, with neither side able to finance a move in January, the two English giants were both reliant on Vermeeren still being on the market in six months’ time.

Unfortunately for the pair, they’ve been punished for their hesitation by Atletico Madrid who unveiled the Belgian as their newest signing on Friday.

The news was confirmed on Atletico’s official website and the finer details of the move were quickly revealed by Fabrizio Romano.

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Arthur Vermeeren transfer details confirmed

Taking to X, the trusted transfer guru stated Vermeeren has penned a mammoth six-and-a-half year contract running until the summer of 2030.

Such lengthy have been commonplace at Chelsea, though have been rarer in continental Europe.

Atletico have paid €18m (approx. £15.4m) to sign the Belgian, while a further €5m could make its way to Antwerp via add-ons.

The €5m in add-ons is split into two parts, with €2m easy to hit and the remaining €3m more difficult to achieve.

Antwerp have also successfully inserted a 10 percent sell-on clause into their agreement with Diego Simeone’s side.

Signing Vermeeren is a significant coup for Atletico, not least because of the nature of those who also chased his signature.

Indeed, it’s not often a team other than Real Madrid get one up on Premier League sides in the transfer market these days, not least clubs the size of Man Utd and Arsenal.

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