For those who may have forgotten, Aaron Ramsey is a 3-time FA Cup winner. In fact, he’s often credited with being the one who heroically ended Arsène Wenger’s nine-year trophy drought back in 2014. Many have even dubbed him as the Prince of Arsenal…so that begs the question, would you take the midfielder back at the Emirates? The reason I’m even asking this question today is because the 29-year-old’s future at Juventus is in serious jeopardy.
According to Sky Italy, Aaron Ramsey has been told by new boss Andrea Pirlo that he’s free to find a new club. The Welshman is reportedly not in the manager’s plans with Arthur, Rodrigo Bentancur and Adrien Rabiot all ahead of him in the pecking order. That leaves the door open for the 29-year-old to leave Turin and perhaps find his way back to North London.
Here’s why Arsenal shouldn’t re-sign Aaron Ramsey.
Seismic Wages
When Aaron Ramsey left for Juventus last summer it was reported that the Welshman’s wages would be in the region of £400,000-a-week due to no involvement of a transfer fee. Having just freed the wage bill of Henrikh Mkhitaryan alongside attempts to pay off Mesut Ozil too. It would now be counterproductive to then purchase Ramsey and give him such wages, especially when he probably wouldn’t be willing to take a pay cut in return.
Currently, Arsenal are not in the position to be signing fringe players on extortionate wages, especially when they’ve just given Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang a bumper new contract whilst also making 55 staff members redundant. Lest we forget, Ramsey still has three years left on his Juve deal, meaning a fee would be involved in any potential move to the Emirates. Money that would be better spent on targets like Thomas Partey, Gabriel Magalhaes and Philippe Coutinho.
Past his Prime
Both physically and ability-wise, Aaron Ramsey is past his prime. That may sound harsh, but the stats confirm that narrative. In a slower and less demanding league, Ramsey has only managed to score 3 times in 24 appearances. Even in his final season at the Emirates, the 29-year-old could only muster up 4 goals and 6 assists in 28 games. This is hardly the form you expect of a box-to-box midfielder once heralded as better than Paul Pogba.
In a time where Mikel Arteta is trying to rebuild the playing culture at the club, bringing back someone like Aaron Ramsey does not aid that process. The Spaniard needs an energetic and technically sound midfield three in order to play his 4-3-3 next season.
Usually deployed as a box-to-box midfielder, Ramsey’s days are bombing up and down the pitch are long gone. Add to that his age and there’s no way back for the Welshman. Players who are nearing 30 should only be brought in if they’re 1) in their prime or 2) coming on a free transfer – Ramsey fits into neither of those categories.
