Arsenal: On the scale of 1 to Aaron Ramsey, James Rodriguez is a 6

Arsenal have to do something about Aaron Ramsey’s exit, and I guess they could do worse than James Rodriguez. There are at least some similarities.

I’m officially going to be judging every midfield summer transfer rumor on a scale of 1 to Aaron Ramsey, in the sense that Arsenal should be completely determined to make up for their embarrassing handling of the Welshman’s contract situation.

There are names being bantered about of course. Donny van de Beek is out there, Marcelo Brozovic is popping his head up again, Dennis Praet is dropping in. Of them all, van de Beek is about a 8.5 on the scale of 1 to Aaron Ramsey.

But now the talk of the town has shifted to a familiar face – James Rodriguez. The Colombian superstart-turned average midfielder-turned superstar-turned above average midfielder or so… whatever he is now.

James is a living roller coaster. In his early 20s, he was a messiah. He was the midfielder that everyone wanted.

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Just a few years and a few injuries later, not to mention a failed loan, and James is a bit more… meh. He spent the year at Bayern Munich, who opted not to purchase him, even though they had the option, and it’s not too difficult to see why. He spent his time either injured or not jiving with the team.

But in terms of being a capable Ramsey replacement for a modest £30m fee? Well, that’s a 6 on the scale of 1 to Aaron Ramsey.

On the plus side, he has star qualities. Ramsey was often criticized for trying to be too fancy, but honestly, I think it’s part of what made him unique. And James comes from a similar thought process. He’s been at the pinnacle of superstardom, so no doubt he would leap at the opportunity to get it back.

Which I think is the most attractive thing about this potential move – he has to be hungry to get back into the spotlight and replacing Ramsey is one hell of a way to do it.

Plus, he’s a midfielder with a nose for goal. Hard to not like that. It’s what made Ramsey stand above so many other midfielders – that innate ability to just know where to be.

The only down fall is that you have to wonder if he’s just spent that stardom. It doesn’t last forever, and some stars burn out long before they should. It would suck to bring in someone who is likely going to demand a good chunk of wages only for him to turn out to be another Ozil, brilliant sometimes, but completely unreliable.