Great to see Aaron Ramsey back at his best

It is easy to forget that prior to his horrendous injury Aaron Ramsey was the young Arsenal midfielder that everyone was talking about, rather than the equally impressive Jack Wilshire. He had forced his way into the Arsenal first team and was looking like the future of the club until that fateful day on 27th February 2010 when he went into a challenge with Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross.

Loan

Ramsey returned from the injury in just under nine months and after short loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Cardiff he has now found himself with another chance at Arsenal. Didn’t he just take that chance on Sunday! An excellent performance was rounded off with the winning goal and his bad times were once and for all put firmly put behind.

The Welsh international was born in Caerphilly in Wales the day after Christmas day in 1990. He was spotted at a very early age and joined Cardiff City as an eight year old, working his way through the youth system. He became the club’s youngest ever first team player when he came on as a substitute in the 2006-07 season aged less than sixteen and a half.

Talent

Premier League clubs were taking notice of this young talent and Cardiff turned down a number of offers for their young star.

During the following season Ramsey signed his first professional contract and made a total of twenty-two appearances for Cardiff. He played in the FA Cup final at the end of the season, becoming the second youngest player ever to do so. He found the net twice that season and established himself in the Welsh under twenty-one team.

Leave

In June 2008 Ramsey decided to leave Cardiff for Arsenal. He could have joined Manchester United or Everton, but chose the North London club. Arsenal paid £4.8 million for his services.

In the 2008-09 season Ramsey was eased into life at Arsenal, making a total of twenty-two appearances mainly in the cup competitions. He only played nine Premier League games but enhanced his reputation with some good performances.

Grow

In the 2009-10 season Ramsey began to grow into his new role. By the time Arsenal went to play Stoke at the end of February he had made twenty-nine appearances and scored four goals. Eighteen of those games and three of the goals were in the Premier League.

That tackle by Ryan Shawcross caused a break to Ramsey’s tibia and fibula and was one of the worst breaks many of us had seen. There were concerns aired about Ramsey would ever play again and certainly about whether he would ever be the same player.

Quick

He made a remarkably quick recovery and Arsenal rewarded him with a new long term contract in June 2010.

Ramsey played his first game after injury for Arsenal reserves on 23rd November and was then loaned out to Championship side Nottingham Forest. He played just five games for Forest before returning to Arsenal in January. He appeared on the Arsenal bench a couple of times before being loaned again to Cardiff, where he scored one goal in seven Championship appearances.

Fifth

The game against Manchester United was his fifth first team game back at the club and his first goal for them since his injury.

Since November 2008 Ramsey has been involved with the full Welsh national side and he has twelve caps. In March this year, aged just twenty, he was named as the country’s permanent captain.

Talent

Ramsey is undeniably a talent and it is fantastic to see him back in the Arsenal shirt doing what he does best. It may have been a disappointing season for Arsenal but with Jack Wilshire and Ramsey in the side the future looks to be incredibly bright.

I’m sure everyone in football is relieved and delighted to see that Aaron Ramsey has made a full recovery and can now get on with what looks like being a wonderful career.