Barcelona 'receive £1.5m compensation' after Thomas Vermaelen missed most of last season due to injury

Barcelona have received a €2m (£1.5m, $2.2m) compensation fee from Fifa after Thomas Vermaelen only managed to play one game in his debut season at the Camp Nou following his signing from Arsenal, according to Sport. The Spanish publication claimed that Luis Enrique's side was refunded the first year salary of the former Gunners captain after an injury he suffered whilst on international duty left him on the sidelines for much of the campaign.

Fifa's Club Protection Programme policy estates that every football federation need to have a special insurance in place to cover players who suffer injuries while representing their national teams, in order to compensate the clubs should their star miss a certain amount of games.

The 30-year-old centre-back defender move to Luis Enrique's side in the summer of 2014 after Arsene Wenger agreed to part ways with him for a fee of around £15m. But having previously suffered a hamstring injury during the Brazil World Cup, the 29-year-old centre-back was unable to play a single minute until the last game of La Liga.

Barcelona originally said that despite his injury during the World Cup they decided to go through with his signing from Arsenal as he was expected to be ready to return in a matter of weeks. However, in November 2014 he was ruled out for further six months after underwent a surgery.

Sport claims that Barcelona consequently asked Fifa for a compensation. The La Liga giant had to prove that the former Arsenal captain did suffer the injury during the World Cup and not while playing for them.

The report claimed that Fifa recently accepted the Barcelona's evidences on the case and recently received a fee of around €2m as compensation.