Liverpool Transfer News: Thomas Vermaelen Offer Reported Amid Arsenal Rumours

Liverpool have reportedly made an approach to sign Barcelona centre-back Thomas Vermaelen amid ongoing reports the Belgium international could return to former club Arsenal.

According to AS (via Sport Witness' Dipesh Agarwal), Vermaelen "has offers on the table" from both Liverpool and AS Roma after being told by Barca manager Luis Enrique he could be as low as fifth choice in the centre-back pecking order at the Camp Nou in 2016-17.

Sport (via the Sun's Andrew Richardson) previously reported that Arsenal have already made a bid to re-sign their former captain, while Roma have offered £13 million for him.

Vermaelen, 30, has endured an injury-ravaged two-season spell at Barca since his £15 million move from Arsenal in 2014, and he has made only 11 La Liga appearances while at the Camp Nou.

The recent arrival at the Catalan giants of Samuel Umtiti has pushed the Belgian further down the pecking order, and it seems highly likely he would be open to moving to a new club where his first-team opportunities would be more abundant.

Liverpool could offer him that. Reds manager Jurgen Klopp has made moves to strengthen his weak back line in the summer transfer window, bringing in Joel Matip from Schalke 04 and Ragnar Klavan from Augsburg.

Per Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe, the Cameroon international is likely to partner Mamadou Sakho in Klopp's starting XI next season:

However, there is no guarantee Matip will be able to immediately adapt to the Premier League—as is also true of Klavan—and the current back-up in Liverpool's central defence includes the inconsistent Dejan Lovren and inexperienced Joe Gomez.

Vermaelen has bags of Premier League experience from his five-year spell at Arsenal and recently proved with an excellent showing at Euro 2016 that he can still perform consistently at the highest level, per ESPN FC's John Chapman.

He has been sidelined for much of the last two seasons but could well be worth pursuing if Liverpool are eager to add further depth to their defence, and he is likely available for between £10 million and £15 million.

Furthermore, he is also capable of operating at left-back, where Klopp is overreliant on Alberto Moreno.

Liverpool could have competitors if they are looking to sign Vermaelen—and Arsenal fans may not be happy if he ends up at Anfield—but the Belgian could be a smart acquisition by Klopp as he looks to add depth to his squad.