Why Arsenal were wrong to thank Aaron Ramsey
Well it was finally confirmed what many Arsenal fans knew for some time, that Welsh international Aaron Ramsey will be leaving Arsenal to join Italian champions Juventus in the summer.
The news was first broken by BBC sport journalist and Arsenal Oracle David Ornstein, when he tweeted that Ramsey had signed a pre contract to join the Turin giants this summer , strangely though Ornstein said that the Welshman would be getting paid £400’000 per week. A couple of hours later respected Italian journalist Gabriele Marcotti firmly corrected the figure spread by Ornstein and possibly Arsenal , when he said that his sources closer to Juventus say the wage is actually £250’000 per week. As I say it seems possible Arsenal might have tried to push the higher wage story to lessen the blow a little of Ramsey leaving.
There have long been rumours being either leaked or pushed mostly by the club that Aaron Ramsey was asking for extortionate wage demands, that he wanted Mesut Ozil money (£350’000 per week) , or even more. These rumours seemed to be further confounded when it came out that Arsenal dramatically pulled out of contract negotiations with Ramsey, spouting some talk that he had an ego and that he wasn’t the right type of player for manager Unai Emery’s style of play. This of course contradicted what Emery said as he joined the club, when he said he would build the team around Ramsey.
As many tributes descended upon Twitter and Facebook and any other possible social media place you can hashtag Rambo, possibly the most startling was one from the club, as they posted many tweets of platitudes and thanks for the Welsh servant of 11 years to the club.
The club tweet statement started with “Thank you @aaronramsey“linking to the official club statement, which reads:
“Everyone at Arsenal Football Club wishes Aaron Ramsey a happy and successful future.
Aaron’s made a fantastic contribution to our club since joining from Cardiff City in 2008. He has always been a consummate professional and will always have a special place in the hearts and memories of Arsenal fans around the world.
We look forward to Aaron helping the team to a strong end to this season before he joins Juventus in the summer.”
Copyright 2019 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
Arsenal went on to post tweet after tweet about Ramsey, celebrating his career at the club and what he had achieved and here we arrive at the reason for the title of this article.
After all we have mentioned be that the fake stories of his wage demands, the changing stories from Emery about Ramsey’s suitability to his desired playing style to now it seems this almost fake stance of we were helpless to hold on to him , it all just appears a little disrespectful to Aaron Ramsey and indeed the Arsenal fans.
It comes across at least to me as if Arsenal are presenting it like Aaron Ramsey was moving up to a bigger team in Juventus, he’s finally getting his big break to join the big leagues from little Arsenal. Ramsey is finally able to earn money that Arsenal players can only dream of, apparently.
This notion is not only disrespectful to all the years Ramsey has given to the club but also to the years Arsenal have been one of the biggest teams in Europe, decades of years in the Champions League , a trophy cabinet full of silverware.
In conclusion yes I say thank you to Aaron Ramsey for the years he’s given to Arsenal in a time when long term stays at football clubs are a thing of the past but I also say Arsenal stay classy don’t forget who you are.
I got into football as a kid watching Italian football in the afternoons and ever since I’ve been hooked on tactics and the continental side of the game. I’ve written about Italian football in the past among other things but now it’s time to write about, the embodiment of how I see the beautiful game, Arsenal. Hopefully writing things and opinions about the game you haven’t seen before, I like a bit of a joke too.
utterly delusional if you think arsenal have been anywhere Juve’s level fot at least 6 years, even more.
ask anyone in europe what they think.
#islandmentality
We have become used to reading lie after lie perpetrated by our politicians and my head is spinning with pro or anti Brexit propaganda. Watching Arsenal has been a sanctuary when we fans forget all of this and get immersed in the match. If we win it is a balm from the snarling, bile ridden rubbish written by Self-Seeking politicians, greatly exagerrated by the conventional media and the public insults on social media.
I am deeply disappointed that there appears to be much of the same rhetoric going on in the corridors of power within The Emirates. Have the morals which have stunk the halls of Westminster and Brussles got to this great club? Is it the case that we don`t know if we are reading Fake News ( Trump Style ) when we hear that Ramsey left for £4k per week and then read that that figure may have been perpetated by the Executives of the Club. The real figure is nearer £250,000 per week according to your article, which is still regarded as a large amount in Italy. Bear in mind that Juventus did not have to pay a transfer fee and to me it means that they are paying the going rate for a player of his quality.
One thing is certain and that is that Ramsey, in the present season has performed as well as any player at Arsenal and with a lot of the class which we are now exporting to Juventus. Well, hey; not to worry, we can afford to rid ourselves of class players with no benefit to the club ( Sanchez £650k per week ). Ozil wearing a seat out on the bench with explanations that he does not fit Emery`s style or he has contracted some mysterious injury, which he has regularly denied? Sanchez and now Aaron, are gone with not a penny to the club. Is it any wonder that we could not afford to buy a decent player this January?
Is it true that Kroenke is transferring Aubaumayang and Lacazette to The LA Rams for no fee and are they guaranteed $500k per week? Probably not, but the way things are going this is one instance where we could certainly cry “Fake News” because it is so outlandish a claim. However if we were to hear that Kroenke syphons off £50m, every year to support his USA franchises, would we be so reluctant to disparage that statement? I think it would be simple to convince the average fan that it is indeed true.
What do we do? Where do we find responsibility or honour these days? The Cannon on the breast of an Arsenal player used to be a sign of pride. The way Arsenal conducted it`s business and generally behaved was the envy of almost every club in football. Where has it gone? We are no longer respected for the strength of our team and the way it plays, and now it seems that even our reputation has been sold with not a penny to the Club.
Very good comment here Victor , it does seem certain classy ways we used to have seem to have gone and left as Wenger went out the door, that’s not to say he was the one doing it rather , the last soldier it seems. It has been said that Arsenal are using David Ornstein a lot more these days to push certain rhetoric to fans , although it remains to be seen to what end. I wish Aaron Ramsey the best and hope he or whoever leaves in the summer (possibly Ozil) have a good successful career , although we do seem have to have lost a bit of class as to how to handle these situations.