Arsenal: Grading 11 potential Aaron Ramsey replacement

6. Jordan Veretout / Grade 6.0 / Price £25m

Save your stones for after I explain why an Aston Villa flop is a good choice to replace Aaron Ramsey, okay?

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Players grow. They improve. They find digs that are more suitable to their own personal wants and needs, and they blossom into the player they were always meant to be. So yeah, Aston Villa bought him for £8m and he subsequently failed there (though he did tally 5 assists in 1800 minutes), but besides that, he’s had a successful career. Not least of all winning the U20 World Cup for France in 2013, a squad that would then win the 2018 World Cup.

The thing with Veretout is you know he has that hunger to redeem himself in the Premier League. Aston Villa were destined to fail that year, no matter what he did on his own, so he did all he could, which wasn’t all that bad, and left.

Since leaving, he has come into his own, scoring handfuls of goals, chipping in handfuls of assists, and finding his footing. This last season was his very best, with the most chances created, the best defensive numbers, the most goal contributions per minutes played, the best a lot of things. And just as he is hitting his prime.

Next up, No. 5.