Arsenal: There’s no way Aaron Ramsey was Unai Emery’s decision

Arsenal will be losing Aaron Ramsey at the end of the season, but contrary to what some are saying, there is no way this was Unai Emery’s call.

I’ve spent all season deliberating over whose call it was to let Aaron Ramsey walk at the end of the year for free. The man has been at Arsenal for over a decade and here he is, about to leave on a free, with his value higher than it has ever been.

He’s a proven goal scorer, a proven creator, and the exact type of player that this club has always needed, what with his innovation, his instincts and his unstoppable engine. But none of that matters, because he is leaving.

I’ve spent most of my time blaming the Mesut Ozil contract. I felt like, since Ozil is being paid so much, Ramsey feels hard done, and it’s hard to blame him. I highly doubt Ramsey would have been asking for the exact same wages, but even if he had been, he wouldn’t be outside of the realm of reason. He’s better than Ozil. So why be paid less.

It’s more likely he was looking to double his wages, or thereabouts. And a contract offer was on the table there for awhile, but before Ramsey could sign it, it was gone, and so too were his hopes (and ours) of staying.

So whose fault is it?

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Well, Perry Groves thinks it is Unai Emery’s and Unai Emery’s alone.

“I think it was entirely Unai Emery’s decision to withdraw the contact offer so he is clearly comfortable letting Ramsey leave,” he said, as quoted by Goal.com.

I disagree completely. Emery and Ramsey were noticeably excited last summer at the prospect of working together. They spoke more openly about the potential partnership than any other player. Ramsey was practically gushing and so was Emery.

That’s when the contract was offered. That’s when Ramsey started reasserting why he was so important. I mean, he still leads the team in assists and he hardly ever plays.

Ramsey is an Emery-esque player whereas Ozil so clearly isn’t. He is a hard worker, who tracks back, who does everything, who never quits. He is everything Emery would have wanted in a No. 10 and he is so endeared to this fan base (most of them, anyway) that he had a long-term captain built in to his prolonged stay.

So no, this isn’t Emery’s fault. It can’t be. It’s so counterintuitive to think that it is. But then again, I don’t think we will ever know whose fault it truly is.