Arsenal: Was Unai Emery screwed from the start with Aaron Ramsey?

Arsenal are apparently not willing to give Aaron Ramsey similar wages as Mesut Ozil. But how much of this is actually Unai Emery’s fault?

According to reports, the ongoing Aaron Ramsey contract saga has hit a snag, with Arsenal (again, reportedly) saying that they aren’t going to give him similar wages as Mesut Ozil. Which is distressing, because Ramsey is in every way worth as much as Ozil. The stats speak for themselves, but when you look at general aura and impact, Ramsey is the German’s superior.

As such, the contract is yet again being put on hold, as apparently Ramsey isn’t too thrilled with the idea of making less than someone who doesn’t exactly do more. Hard to argue with that, assuming that it’s all true.

Also assuming that it’s all true, doesn’t it stand to reason that this might all be out of Emery’s hands? Or worse, could it be that Arsene Wenger royally screwed over Emery before leaving, by passing this situation off to him to deal with?

Not on purpose, of course, but think about it. Back in January, when contracts were needed, it was under Wenger’s watch that Ozil was given a massive deal. Wenger had a huge part to play in that, you can bet, because Ozil is the prototypical Wenger player, and Le Prof would have wanted his stay.

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But by giving him so much money and then subsequently not qualifying for the Champions League, the Gunners were financially handcuffed to Ozil, with very little flexibility to offer money outside of him.

Meaning that any other superstars that wanted superstar money were going to be S.O.L. for whoever followed Wenger.

Ramsey is a superstar, and he is most certainly S.O.L. by the sounds of it. If the Gunners really don’t have the financial flexibility to get him a new deal, then it is because Wenger failed to nip into the top four and succeeded in extending Ozil with massive bucks.

Which left Emery with nothing left to do but flail around and hope that his people could convince Ramsey’s people to hang around, despite the lack of money they can offer him.

I said long ago that Ramsey is worth every penny of £300,000. He still is, in every way. You just can’t put into pound signs how much his heroism has impacted the club. It’s been more than Ozil, I’ll say that much.

This is not looking good. Money doesn’t grow on trees in North London, but drama does, and we are in for a serious drama-coaster until Ramsey’s situation is resolved.