REPLACING RAMSEY WILL COST ARSENAL A FORTUNE
NO SITUATION with a player has confused me more this season than Arsenal and Aaron Ramsey. I said in August that it made no sense to let him leave. Here we are in January, he keeps playing and making a contribution and my view hasn’t changed. Juventus and Bayern Munich are among the clubs who are looking to take him when his contract expires and I think that gives you the best indication of how highly regarded he is. These are giants, not some run-of-the-mill team looking to make a statement. You can be sure, though, that Juventus and Bayern Munich will not be alone. Ramsey is in his peak years. Yes, he will command good wages, but when you see how Xherdan Shaqiri has done for Liverpool — his transfer fee of £13million was peanuts — taking Ramsey for free is a no-brainer. Arsenal, clearly, have made their minds up, but they also made a rod for their own back when agreeing to give Mesut Ozil such a huge new contract 12 months ago. That is the benchmark wage and every player in the dressing room will know how to push their own negotiations. It will be Arsenal’s loss when Ramsey goes because it will cost them a fortune in terms of a transfer fee and wages to find someone of comparable ability. He, however, will look at it as a great opportunity and a new start will give him a new lease of life. Gareth Bale thrived when he left the Premier League and it would not surprise me if Ramsey did the same. Whoever signs him will be getting a top-class performer.