Arsenal: One key thing that any Aaron Ramsey replacement must have

Arsenal bore witness to another all-inclusive Aaron Ramse performance where he accomplished so much on the pitch. So you want to talk replacements?

It seems like the closer we get to Aaron Ramsey leaving Arsenal, the better he becomes. That’s a scary concept. Because now, more than any other point this season, we are relying on him to be the engine behind the attack and the support of the midfield that keeps that battle in hand.

So you want to talk about replacing someone like that? It’s no easy feat, and it’s a feat that I’ve called impossible more than once this year, as no one man is capable of doing what Ramsey has been doing in recent months, or years for that matter.

That said, some of the names we are seeing have a lot of the makings of a Ramsey-esque midfielder. Franck Kessie for instance, or Joan Jordan, or Jordan Veretout, they all dabble in all of the key midfield categories, they work hard, they pass, create, dribble, defend, they do the whole mantle in varying degrees, and in time, they could grow to help us move on from Ramsey.

But there is one thing that any sort of Ramsey replacement absolutely must have, and that is the ability to score necessary goals. It’s something we can’t do without, especially with the cast of characters that we have. Not to mention who might be leaving.

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While Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are good for huge clips of goals, no doubt, having that late option, that extra weapon, is just irreplaceable, and Ramsey has that nose for goal that always emerges when you need it most. He’s always appearing in deadly situations and his feet are capable of some amazing tricks.

You look at the other midfielders that we have (I’m not going to try to predict who’s leaving) – Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Matteo Guendouzi, Alex Iwobi, Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka – none of these guys can be counted on for goals, save maybe Mkhitaryan, but he’s one of the guys that falls under the “likely to leave” category.

Torreira might grow into it, he’s shown an affinity for it, but until we see it for sure, it’s not something to bank on.

Whoever we think is the best Ramsey replacement has to be able to score goals. They just have to. Otherwise this whole “leaving for free” business is going to hurt even worse. If that’s possible.