Aaron Ramsey
According to Daily Star, AC Milan have joined the race to sign Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey and the move has a strong possibility of materializing if Arsenal’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis moves to AC Milan.
The 27-year-old Welshman is yet to put pen to paper on his new contract as Arsenal are struggling to meet Ramsey’s wage demands. Arsenal eventually relented to Mesut Ozil’s wage demands last season and offered the German an improved contract with weekly wages of £350,000. However, the Gunners are clearly unwilling to hand Ramsey a contract with wages at par with Ozil. (h/t Daily Star)
Ramsey, who currently earns £110,000-per-week, joined Arsenal from Cardiff City in 2008 and has made a total of 333 appearances for the Gunners across all competitions. During that time, the prolific midfielder netted 58 times.
Arsenal’s start to the season hasn’t been great. A 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on opening day was followed by another 3-2 defeat which came at the hands of Chelsea. However, the Gunners have resurrected their campaign to some extent with back-to-back victories over West Ham United, Cardiff City and Newcastle United.
While players like Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Petr Cech and Shkodran Mustafi have found it difficult to adapt to Emery’s pressing and ‘playing from the back’ style, the likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira and Ramsey have taken their game to a new level.
In fact, Ramsey has done exceedingly well in the games so far. The 27-year-old, who used to play in a deep midfield role, has been deployed in a new position by Unai Emery. The manager has often deployed Ramsey in an advanced role in the attacking third this season. As a result, the midfielder has thrived behind the striker.
Mesut Ozil has struggled to lift the spirits of the team in the ongoing campaign. Although the German has shown glimpses of his brilliance, he looks like a shadow of the player he used to be. Ozil gets dispossessed off the ball way too easily and his passing has been far from immaculate.
The 29-year-old has also been guilty of misplacing his passes and squandering possession in crucial areas. However, his performance in the second half of the game against Cardiff was pretty impressive and might just be a sign of better things to come.
Hence, in Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal probably have one of the most versatile midfielders in the Premier League. An excellent reader of the game, Ramsey utilizes his positional brilliance to make key tackles and interceptions in the middle of the park.
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He is equally adept at creating chances and scoring goals. His aggressive forward runs coupled with a keen eye for a pass makes him a potent attacking threat. A tireless runner with the ball, he shows a lot of commitment with his work-rate on the pitch.
Ramsey has been at the club for 10 years now and he is just 27, meaning he still has a lot to offer. Hence, Arsenal should give in to his wage demands and try to persuade the Welshman to sign a new contract.