Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey is already a huge loss

Arsene Wenger believes that Aaron Ramsey will be a “huge loss” for Arsenal, which is all true, minus the “will be.” He already is a huge loss.

In case you were wondering, no, I still haven’t come to terms with Aaron Ramsey‘s pending departure from Arsenal this summer. Both Arsenal and Juventus have already confirmed the move and I’m still thinking of ways that this could still end up with Ramsey staying at the Emirates.

It’s the worst break-up I’ve ever had.

Arsene Wenger gets it. Speaking on Sky Sports, he pointed out that Juventus are making a great move, while the Gunners are in for a “huge loss.” And yes, Wenger is more credible than the randoms on Twitter who think that Ramsey is overrated. That includes Piers Morgan.

But Arsene Wenger got one thing wrong about the huge loss that Aaron Ramsey will be, and the thing he got wrong was the tense that he used.

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Wenger said that Ramsey “will be” a huge loss, but what he should have said is that Ramsey is already a huge loss, because you can tell that Unai Emery is trying to use him as sparsely as possible, and for just cause. What’s the good in growing reattached to the Welshman when you know he’s leaving?

To Ramsey’s credit, he has been the consummate professional all season, not letting the situation get in the way of his play. He’s still got the most assists on the team this year, despite playing less minutes than every other player registering at least two assists – by at least 100 minutes across the board.

He’s reminded us of what a loss he is every time he takes to the pitch, such that I honestly have to ask myself if I’d rather see him out there more, and suffer the long-term consequences, or see him out there less, like Emery is doing, and suffer the short-term consequences.

I don’t envy the decision that Emery has had to make time and time again – how much do you rely on a player that you won’t have for the long haul? Instead he’s been turning to Alex Iwobi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mesut Ozil (rarely) and the common theme, given the numbers, is that no one does it like Ramsey.

Yes, he is going to be a huge loss. That much is obvious. But he already is a loss. The sooner we can move on, the better.