Aaron Ramsey is a central midfielder who represents Arsenal Football Club in the English Premier League and also regularly starts for Wales.
Full name: Aaron James Ramsey
Age: 22 years, 355 days
Nationality: Welsh
Preferred Foot: Right
Position: RCM/LCM/CM/DM
Club: Arsenal
Shirt Number: 16
Previous clubs: 2006-08-Cardiff City, 2010-11-Nottingham Forest (Loan), 2011-Cardiff City (Loan).
Total Career Appearances: 206
Total Career Goals: 26
Current Season Appearances : 20
Current Season Goals: 10
Current Season Assists: 7
International caps: 30
International Goals: 8
Aaron Ramsey was born in Caerphilly, Wales. Ramsey was into rugby and athletics but he used to play as a winger for Caerphilly R.F.C.s youth development programme and was signed by Cardiff City’s youth academy.
Ramsey’s road to a professional footballing career started as early as 8 years old and worked hard in the youth academy of Cardiff City to make the first appearance for them as a substitute at the age of 16. He became the youngest player to make a debut for Cardiff City and that itself spoke volumes of the talent that this boy possessed at such an early age. Other clubs kept an eye on Ramsey but Cardiff City were in no mood to sell this youngster.
Aaron Ramsey eventually settled in to first team of Cardiff City in winters of 2007-08 season and after a few delightful performances, notably in the FA Cup, Ramsey was on the radar for Manchester United and Arsenal. Ramsey was a United fan as he looked up to Ryan Giggs, a fellow Welshman. However, Cardiff accepted Arsenal’s bid of £5m for the youngster and after advice from Terry Burton, the assistant coach of Cardiff City, Ramsey decided to join the North London club to play under Arsene Wenger.
Aaron Ramsey made his debut in the Champions League against FC Twente while his league debut against Blackburn where he assisted Emmanuel Adebayor. The first match he played for full 90 minutes, he racked up two more assists and was quickly setting in to this young Arsenal team. If these achievements weren’t enough, Ramsey selected the perfect moment to get his first goal for the club against Fenerbahce in Champions League when he shot from outside the box to score and become the fifth youngest scorer in Champions League. Ramsey was enjoying life at the Emirates Stadium and signed another contract on 1 July, 2009.
It was not until late in 2009 Ramsey completed 90 minutes for the first time in the League and during that time he was awarded the Welsh ‘Young Player of the Year’ award. Ramsey was described by Wenger as ‘An offence-minded Roy Keane’, a hug compliment for the youngster as he looked up to Roy Keane in his childhood days.
The turning point in Ramsey’s career came on 27th February, 2010. Arsenal visited the Britannia Stadium where they played the physical Stoke City and a crunching tackle by defender Ryan Shawcross injured Ramsey and the player had a double fracture in his lower right leg. He broke his tibia and fibula and it was confirmed that it was going to be a long layoff for the Welshman. The club fully supported him during his recovery and Ramsey signed another contract on 1st June, 2010. He eventually made his return to football by playing for the reserve team 9 months after his horrific injury.
Aaron Ramsey was sent for a short term loan spell at Nottingham Forest to gain some playing time and after making five appearances for the club, he went to Cardiff City for a further loan spell and returned to Arsenal in February. The return of Aaron Ramsey to the club was a pleasing sight for the fans as he had now fully recovered from his injury that could have ended his career.
The next two seasons Ramsey slowly started to get back in to his rhythm and he was again rewarded with a new contract for his performances and the current season looks like his breakthrough season in the Premier League.
Aaron Ramsey had been racking up the assists chart for the club but this season he started by scoring thrice in the qualifiers for Champions League and since then he hasn’t looked back. Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey have formed a fine understanding and this has led to some magnificent goals, specifically from Aaron Ramsey. He even scored a brace against his former club and did not celebrate as an act of respect.
Arsene Wenger has always believed in the potential of Aaron Ramsey and how rewarding it must be for the manager to see his current form! Wenger said, “Once Aaron Ramsey starts scoring, he wont stop.” That is exactly what is happening in this season and although he has looked a bit off color in his recent outings (probably due to fatigue) Ramsey has been by far the best midfielder of Arsenal and arguably the best midfielder in the league this season. The most pleasing aspect has been his adaptability to the holding midfielder role as Mikel Arteta was injured for most part of the season in the beginning but Ramsey stepped up to perform this role admirably and has been scoring at will from any position.
Arsenal bought Mesut Ozil for £45m in the summer and people point to this signing as the reason for Arsenal’s position in the league right now but most of these sparkling performances by the team have been orchestrated by Aaron Ramsey in the midfield and it is his uprising that has been the X factor for Arsenal in this season.
The boy is just turning 23 and has already shown glimpses of being the next big Welsh talent as Gareth Bale, his fellow Welshman, has already proven his credentials and moved on to Real Madrid. Most of the players are going the extra mile this season to be in the squad for World Cup of their respective countries. Wales have had no chance from quite a while now and even without the World Cup motivation, Ramsey has remained a true professional and might be the player who helps to finish this 8 years trophy drought of Arsenal. He has the ability to be the next Scholes or Gerrard of the Premier League and Wenger must take good care of this young man and make sure that he doesn’t slip out of his hands like his previous potential superstars.
