Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey would flourish under Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique has been backed into the favourite position as Arsenal’s choice to replace Arsene Wenger. If hired, Aaron Ramsey, a former target of his, would flourish.

The future of Arsenal football club is very much in the air. There is little that is certain, other than the fact that Arsene Wenger will no longer be a part of the club, and there is a lot of highly influential change coming at the very top of the club. Everything else is in the air.

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The first domino to fall, however, will be the manager one. Who Arsenal will replace Wenger with will dictate every other decision that is made. Even in modern football, the manager still has a great impact on the choices that are made, especially those on the pitch.

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And the early running suggests that Luis Enrique could the man that the Gunners have highlighted as Wenger’s successor. The reason I say that is because of the recent trend in the bookies’ odds. When the news was first announced, Enrique was a 16/1 outsider, placed behind the likes of Brendan Rodgers, Patrick Vieira and even Thomas Tuchel, who has been strongly linked with the Paris Saint-Germain role.

But since that time, his odds have shortened significantly to a favourite 5/2. That is a little peculiar. Moreover, in the last 24 hours, of all the money placed on Wenger’s successor, Enrique leads the way with a massive 36% share. For whatever reason, Enrique is being highly backed as Arsenal’s man. And so, that got me thinking. Who would benefit most from Enrique’s arrival?

Well, the answer, I believe is quite obvious. Aaron Ramsey plays the energetic, box-to-box manner that Enrique demands from his central midfielders. He also possesses the technical quality to manipulate the ball, create chances in the final third and score goals. That is a rare skill: the combination of both athleticism and technique.

And Enrique was enamoured with Ramsey while he was at Barcelona. He believed that Ramsey added the complementary drive and directness to the more distributional Barca midfielders at the time. While the signing never happened, there have been rumours that Enrique was desperate to build the team around Ramsey’s talents. Well, now he might the opportunity to do so, just at another club.

There is only one sticking point: The Welshman’s contract expires at the end of the season and there have been little suggestions that the two parties are close to an agreed extension. That said, if Ramsey was to see Enrique come through the door, it is difficult to imagine that he would not want a new deal.

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But that doubt over his future is still present. It is only more significant now that he does not know who his future manager will be. Nevertheless, if it is indeed Enrique, don’t be surprised to see Ramsey flourish.