Arsenal: First mistake of Aaron Ramsey transfer saga has been made

Arsenal can’t sell Aaron Ramsey. They just can’t. But, that being the case, they have gone ahead and screwed up with their first mistake already.

I made it clear just a few days ago how high I see Aaron Ramsey as a priority. After finding the next manager, extending Ramsey is next on the Arsenal to-do list. No question about it. There are just too few players like him out there and, most agonizing of all, he is entering his prime years and this past season showed that, as his goal contribution clip was off the charts.

But with just one year left on his contract, nothing is a guarantee. Ramsey has always expressed happiness regarding his stay at the Emirates, and he has only briefly flirted with the idea of leaving the club where he has spent the formative years of his footballing career.

This summer is the big hinge with which the next stage of his future will be determined. If he is going to leave at all, it’s going to come this summer, because I do have to believe that Arsenal have learned enough to not allow him to run down his deal like so many before him.

To make things a bit stickier – they’ve made their first mistake in retaining the Welshman. They’ve reportedly named an asking price.

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Now, while these are reports from the Metro, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that it is true, just so we can chat about how terrible of an idea this is. According to these reports, Arsenal are welcoming offers in the £40m range. Which is criminally low, I don’t care how many years he has left.

Let me again point out that there just aren’t many players like Ramsey. He is a man made on his undying engine and on instincts. Good luck replacing that. Not to mention the dose of heroism he always seems to find right when its needed.

There is no price for that, and I wish that the Gunners would take a hard-nosed approach to his potential exit but telling teams that no, he isn’t for sale, so back the hell off.

Right now, Ramsey is on a measly £100,000 wages. He is due for a raise that doubles that, if not more. There is plenty of reason to have faith in him accepting if such an offer is made, but that is asking a lot of a club that is entering a transition phase, although it shouldn’t be.

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Say you sell Ramsey for £40m, then what? How do you reinvest that in the team so that they don’t suffer? You can’t. You have to up the ante and spend more on something you already had (and by the way, good luck finding it) or you take the loss and hope to build in other ways. Spoiler alert: it isn’t worth it.

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