Wenger strikes again as Vermaelen proves a hit

Arsenal fans are fond of saying of their manager that "Arsene knows" - and once again he appears to have hit the jackpot with his latest big signing Thomas Vermaelen, who arrived at the Emirates from Ajax in a £10m deal this summer.

So far Vermaelen, a centre back by trade, has scored four goals this season and finds himself at the top of the Gunners' goal scoring charts. He scored twice against Wigan on Saturday, once with a header and then with a wonderful curling shot from 20 yards that any striker would have been proud of.

He also fulfilled his duties at the back as he helped his side keep a clean sheet. And Arsenal may have the makings of a new centre back pairing - Vermaelen and William Gallas are the only players to have started every game this season.

Arsene Wenger will not be surprised by how well his new man has settled in - Arsenal's manager had been monitoring the 23-year-old since 2005 when he first saw him play. On that occasion he was watching from the dugout as the teenage defender marked Thierry Henry out of the game as Ajax held Arsenal to a goalless draw in the Champions League.

He caught Wenger's eye once again two years later when he impressed against Arsenal in a pre-season tournament, and was involved with an on-field bust-up with Robin Van Persie.

"He kept Thierry Henry quiet and again he did the same with Van Persie," said Wenger. "I put the name in my brain and kept it in there." The Gunners boss was also impressed with his refusual to back down when the altercation with van Persie kicked off. "As a centre-back you need to be fully committed."

It is claimed that Wenger had Vermaelen watched 30 times by Arsenal scouts - once even hiding a spy in woodland in order to get a glimpse of him training with the Belgium squad. It is the sort of attention to detail that characterises Wenger's transfer activity.

Having identified his man it was only this summer, after selling Kolo Toure - the last of the 'Invincibles' - that he finally moved for the centre back.

But he has bedded in with the rest of the team quickly, and even appears to have settled his differences with Van Persie.

"He is hard and played very strong on me physically," says the Dutch forward of the incident in 2007. "Now I'm happy he is on my side. In training everyone mixes up so I play against him. He is tough and it's good because I am training against proper defenders."

Van Persie may want to do a bit more training with his new team mate - the Dutch striker has one goal to Vermaelen's four so far this season. ·