It could possibly be the next Fabregas move as Chelsea is weighing up a move for Arsenal midfield man Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman’s contract runs out at the end of next season and the Blues are hoping to take advantage of this situation. Arsenal just don’t seem to learn from their past mistakes it seems, after having to forcefully let go of Alexis Sanchez in the January transfer window, one would assume that the Gunners would have understood not to let their star players’ contract run down into the final year, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Although Sanchez has not hit his best form with Manchester United just yet, the North London side is well aware of the quality the Chilean possesses. But having lost arguably their best player, Arsenal just isn’t moving forward in terms of understanding the issues at the club.
Recent reports have claimed that Premier League rivals Chelsea are keen on bringing in a talented box to box midfielder to replace Francesc Fabregas at Stamford Bridge. Blues manager Antonio Conte is unhappy with his Spaniard not because of his passing abilities, which are genuinely high quality but his work-rate being questioned when tracking back to defend.
Having signed Tiemoue Bakayoko, Ross Barkley, and Danny Drinkwater over the course of the last two transfer windows, Conte is still looking for a stellar midfield man with experience in the English League. And the Italian boss has identified Ramsey as the perfect choice to fill in the traits that he demands. The London side recently recruited French striker Olivier Giroud from their local rivals in the winter transfer window and will be eager to poach another star from across the city.
Ramsey joined Arsenal back in 2008 for a fee of £5m from Cardiff City but has never hit the peak of his performances on a consistent basis. The 27-year-old has had massive injury woes but having overcome them off late, he is looking more comfortable in Arsene Wenger’s midfield. Ramsey helped Arsenal to win the FA Cup on three occasions in the past four seasons, including scoring in two separate finals.
He can operate in central midfield as well as on the flanks; Ramsey has also been used as a deep-lying playmaker due to his robust nature. But since the arrival of Granit Xhaka and most recently of Jack Wilshere, Ramsey has been used more as an attacking midfielder.
And Arsenal need to be careful to avoid another Sanchez-type situation as Ramsey is one of the clubs best players at the moment. However, he did issue a bit of an alarming situation when asked about his future at the Emirates Stadium as he spoke to BT Sport saying, ”Nothing to comment on at the moment, I think they’ve been busy to tie up other contracts at the moment.”
I doubt Chelsea will sign Ramsey as he would prefer sticking with Arsenal for a better deal on his contract. But with just over 12 months left on his contract, Arsenal better act fast.
