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Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey Number Change Has Serious Implications
Arsenal have recently announced their new squad numbers for the 2016/17 season. Aaron Ramsey’s change in number has significant implications.
The central midfield areas of Arsenal are becoming the most competitive aspect of the squad. With the recent signing of Granit Xhaka, the Gunners now boast a plethora of top quality midfielders. With Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Mohammed Elneny all set to return, Arsenal possess some of the best midfielders that the Premier League has to offer.
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The quality of midfielders at Arsenal only increases when British stars Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are factored into the occasion. The two’s careers have often been entwined during the tenure with Arsenal, each of them mirroring the success and failures of the other.
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Both were once thought as potentially world class players, a type of player to build a team around, both have shown their greatness in flashes throughout their short careers so far and both have struggled mightily with a variety of injuries which have ultimately curtailed their talent so far.
Ramsey, in particular, has shown his quality recently, and perhaps looks the more likely to break into the Arsenal starting line up on a regular basis. This feeling is backed up by the recent announcement in his change of squad number.
Ramsey will now inherited the number eight jersey vacated by the retiring Mikel Arteta, and it is a statement of confidence from Wenger to hand him such a number. The number eight is synonymous with legends of the game, especially in English football. Arsenal themselves have had some truly fantastic number eights in their history, including Ian Wright and Freddie Ljungberg.
More than just the number, however, giving Ramsey the jersey of the captain is what displays Wenger’s confidence in the Welsh international. We could be set to see Ramsey given the keys to the Arsenal car, a key piece in a complex and clustered midfield machine.
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Whether giving Ramsey such responsibility is a wise move or not remains to be seen. There are certainly some, including this writer, who rather see Jack Wilshere backed as the future of this club. Nonetheless, Ramsey is an integral part of the squad, and it looks as though Wenger also sees it that way and is set to place even more responsibility on the young man’s shoulders. Let’s just hope he doesn’t get injured under the possibility of new found pressure.