Arsenal: Offer Aaron Ramsey the captaincy and there’ll be no problems

Aaron Ramsey is in the final year of his contract. Arsenal do not have a captain who plays in the first team regularly. They can solve both problems by giving the Welshman the captaincy.

It’s been another long contract saga over the last few months, something that unfortunately at Arsenal, we have gotten used to over the last year or so. First, it was Arsene Wenger. The will he or won’t he until eventually he did but not before admitting it completely disrupted many seasons with the unnecessary distraction.

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Then there was the Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil situation where we ‘thought’ Alexis wanted to leave for silverware but turned out just wanted money and Ozil just wanted more money, a lot of it actually, but decided to stay in north London.

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Now, here we are again with Aaron Ramsey. He is into the final year of his contract and there’s still no sign of a new one being agreed upon. Despite what numerous newspaper reports are stating, I don’t actually think it’s down to wages. I think he just wants the club to show some faith in him and reward him for his loyalty — he’s been at the club 10 years now and has blossomed into a fine player.

But, for some reason or another, the club have declined to allow him to step up into any position of responsibility. It’s not like he doesn’t have the experience. He has been the Wales International team captain for more than five years, proof that he has the required leadership at the top-level.

Thomas Vermaelen, Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker were all first-team captains in recent years, but none were regulars in the first team by their final seasons. The same can be said for the current club captain, Laurent Koscielny who is injured until the new year and is not guaranteed a starting place when he returns. It’s not inconceivable that Arsenal will be left in a very similar position as before.

The captain’s armband at the club needs a little bit of stability, with a player who is a regular starter, knows what it means to wear the Arsenal shirt and possesses leadership qualities. All fingers point to Ramsey.

Unai Emery said at the beginning of the season he wanted the club to have five captains, strange in itself. But when you take in to account the fact that one of the captains he mentioned was Mesut Ozil, you couldn’t help but wonder, despite the talent that Ozil has, why he was named ahead of other players — Ramsey was also named one of the five captains, it should be said, but Ozil’s inclusion is nonetheless strange. He is certainly no natural leader, that is for sure. I think a lot of input has been put into Ozil’s wellbeing and happiness. But has it come at the extent of a player of Ramsey’s standing?

So, after ten years at the club, it’s time to reward Ramsey with what he deserves. It’s time he was given the captain’s armband. It would solve many problems.