Welsh international midfielder Aaron Ramsey will not be extending his Arsenal contract.
The Gunners had it coming for a long time and will now face a decision whether to sell him in January or let him leave at the end of the season on a free transfer.
Ramsey joined Gunners in 2008 from Cardiff and went on to become one of the leading stars of Arsene Wenger’s second decade at the club, despite numerous injuries often casting a shadow on the full effect and importance for Arsenal.
Arsenal have thrown in the towel on their attempt to tie Ramsey down to a new deal and are expected to receive plenty of serious offers for their in-form midfielder during winter. Whether they will entertain them is a different matter.
Ramsey – as a world-class potential and a player in his physical peak – is a person of interest for many a Europe’s top club and has already attracted interest from Barcelona, Chelsea and Juventus as his long-term admirers, whereas the newly emerged situation regarding his contract has also alarmed Liverpool, Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and most recently AC Milan.
Aaron Ramsey has done great things for Arsenal – scoring winning goals in two FA Cup finals with the north London club – but there’s been a consensus over a notion that the Welshman is at the wrong club.
The best Arsenal player (per minutes on pitch) according to innovative and insightful data Twelve Football provides, Ramsey has so much to give. He spent the total of 1,993 minutes on pitch in 38 Premier League matches last term – amassing the total of 42,767 points. Although he would often be deployed to deep in a 4-2-3-1 system – to accommodate the presence of Mesut Ozil and earlier on Santi Cazorla – Ramsey was mostly directly involved in Arsenal’s attacking exploits.
In the 2018/19 season, Arsenal are going through a transitional period with Unai Emery here to write a new chapter at the club. The former Sevilla boss is off to a great start to his life in London but Ramsey can’t afford to lose any more time waiting for Gunners to reach their full potential.
The Welshman should leave Arsenal and here is our list of top three picks where we believe Ramsey would fit in the best and at the same time take his game to a different level as well.
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp’s heavy-metal, high-tempo football could be just the type of game Ramsey needs to get to his absolute best.
Liverpool will have an obvious trump card over Manchester United as an exciting place to be at the moment. The Champions League finalists are in the later stages of their own transition and could provide Ramsey with a chance to have a direct hand in helping Liverpool achieve glory and win silverware – for which the Reds are priced at 9/4 to achieve in the Premier League this season.
Ramsey could follow path of his former teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who made a distinctive influence at Liverpool when Jurgen Klopp started playing him in his favoured position. The free-flowing style Reds are nurturing at Anfield would allow Ramsey to display his full array of talents whereas the Reds would also benefit vastly from his running power – both in defence and attack.
It can be argued that Liverpool lack a player of his caliber at the moment, despite being fully packed in the midfield. The likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum have all done wonderful job for Reds but – in terms of ingenuity, creativity and vision – Aaron Ramsey would be a clear improvement to the trio.
Bayern Munich
The Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are a highly competitive side that could potentially be a great fit for Aaron Ramsey.
Despite the obvious disadvantages that could see Ramsey turn his head away from a possible move to Germany – language barrier and the fact he’s well settled in England – the uncertainty surrounding the future of head coach Niko Kovac and a turbulent season Bavarians are going through could turn to be decisive.
Still, it can be argued that Ramsey would be a good fit into Bayern’s 4-1-2-3 system as a complement to the more advanced midfield line comprised of Leon Goretzka, Thiago Alcantara, Javi Martinez, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Muller.
If we dare compare Aaron Ramsey to former Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal – who left for Barcelona this summer – the Welshman could fill in the Chilean’s shoes at the Allianz Arena and transform himself into a hard-working, dynamic holding force for one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Juventus
Transfer dealing specialists, Juventus, are said to have already opened the talks with Ramsey in attempt to sign him to a pre-contract and secure their position ahead of the summer transfer market. It’s a similar MO they used on Liverpool midfielder Emre Can and the one that could ultimately work.
The Serie A powerhouse made a great statement of intent by signing Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer but have no intention of stopping reshaping their squad. Sami Khedira and Blaise Matuidi are the ageing versions of a player Aaron Ramsey would become in Turin and that’s exactly what Bianconeri have in mind for the Welshman.
Seen as a direct replacement and an upgrade to their midfield ranks, Juventus would deploy Ramsey as their anchorman – controlling the box to box space and acting as a direct link with the playmaking genius of Miralem Pjanic.
Coming from behind into dangerous area to propel a shot or serve a defense-splitting pass is what Aaron loves most an that’s exactly what he would be allowed to do at Juventus.
Where do you think Aaron Ramsey would fit in best?
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