Morning shows the day. Everyone could anticipate what was about to happen and it was inevitable that the 28-year-old midfield superstar Aaron Ramsey would leave the Emirates. It was made clear from the moment when the Gunners withdrew a contract offer in September that was left unsigned for several months.
Though the exact reason behind that decision has never been made public, conversations and agreements with important figures on both sides of the argument revealed several points of general agreement. Aaron Ramsey is now a Juventus player and he left Arsenal in a free deal. The departure had many reasons.
Firstly, the midfielder had been offered a deal at Arsenal that represented him a significant increase on the fee of near about £110,000 a week more than he earns. Though after some time, that deal shifted a little and the main components were in place for a long time before the September U-turn situation. Then, Arsenal dismissed any signs of selling Ramsey last summer. A few clubs including Manchester United enquired about the midfielder but the Arsenal management refused any chance to sell him. At last and perhaps the most significant, Ramsey did not agitate to leave. Unlike the vast majority on the high-profile departure list including the most obvious example being Alexis Sanchez, the midfielder was looking for a new environment and better condition.
Ramsey is all known to enjoy London life with his wife, Colleen who gave birth to twins, their second and third children back in October. Moving with a young family abroad in the new year was not an obvious option of his to-do list.
Head coach Unai Emery has always expressed his admiration for Ramsey’s professionalism both publicly and privately during the past few months. The former PSG man has turned down six interested clubs to two before finally committing the next four years to the Serie A champions.
Ramsey has been linked with several big names including Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and after all the drama, he has now committed to a four-year contract with Juventus. The midfielder will join the Serie A champions at the end of the season.
The deal will make Ramsey the second-highest earner after Cristiano Ronaldo, who earns £500,000 a week at the Italian side.
It is stated that Ramsey has signed a pre-contract agreement with the Italian club Juventus for a deal worth just over £400,000 a week. Moreover, Emery was always keen to keep Ramsey until the summer regardless of his next move as the Spaniard manager believed that he could play an active role in the second half of the season. Since the news of the contract offer being retracted emerged on September, Ramsey has made 11 starts and 12 substitute appearances for Arsenal. In the same period, Mesut Ozil has made only nine starts, three from the bench.
One senior figure from the Emirates states that while Emery was consulting over Ramsey’s future, the final call was taken above his head. It was Ivan Gazidis who oversaw before jumping ship for the cash and probable equity share on offer at AC Milan.
