Watford are reportedly interested in bringing former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen to Vicarage Road this summer.

The 31-year-old centre-back, who has been blighted by injuries in recent years, is currently on loan from Barcelona at Roma where he has made 12 appearances for the Serie A outfit.

His career has suffered since making a £15m move from North London to the Camp Nou in 2014, where he made just seven league starts in two seasons.

Watford fans will be hopeful the Belgium international can rediscover the form which saw him impress during the early stages of his Arsenal career should any prospective deal materialise.

Any move is likely to come as an effort to add strength in depth to the Watford defence, which has been stretched by injuries this season.

Walter Mazzarri currently has Sebastian Prodl, Christian Kabasele, Younes Kaboul, Craig Cathcart, Adrian Mariappa and Miguel Britos to call upon at centre-back.