Emery: Ramsey needs to put football before the small print of his contract

Unai Emery, the Arsenal head coach, has told Aaron Ramsey that he wants the midfielder to forget about his contract saga and focus fully on his football.

Ramsey was dropped from the starting line-up against Chelsea and has yet to agree a new deal.

“I spoke with him last week,” Emery said of Ramsey, whose contract ends this season. “The contract is for his agent and the club but we want – and I need – his focus only on training, only on the match and on his performance each day.”

Ramsey will hope to return to the side for today’s meeting with West Ham as Arsenal look to win their first points following defeats by Manchester City and Chelsea.

His absence at Stamford Bridge raised questions over whether Emery believes he can play alongside Mesut Ozil, but the head coach insisted the two attacking midfielders would work together.

Emery expects today’s match to be the first opportunity for his side to “control” a game in the Premier League since he replaced Arsene Wenger in the summer.

“Manchester City are a different team and so the preparation is very different compared to other matches,” Emery said. “Also, Chelsea are different to other teams.

“Saturday is a difficult match, but we are thinking more we can control the match with our personality. Against Chelsea and Manchester City, there were more times that the opposition did not let us do that.”