Aaron Ramsey says he’d like to follow in the footsteps of Welsh teammate Gareth Bale and play in Spain at some point in his career.
The midfielder, who just took the number 8 shirt, spoke to Marca about Wales chances in the European Championships this summer, and what the future might hold for him.
It’s a pretty beige interview, all things considered, but here’s a transcript anyway.
Are you happy with the way the form of your friend Bale?
Yes, he’s has had a great end of season and he tells me he is very happy in Spain. I hope he continues that form at the Euros in France. However, Wales has other great players!
What did he say to you about life in Spain?
He loves the lifestyle you have in Spain and loves to play in the league. Now he’s just had another baby and is more than happy. What else do you want? [Laughter]
[Question about Cristiano Ronaldo that we don’t care about]
We are used to a lot of injuries with Ramsey. How far could you get without them?
It is my goal. I know that many people expect things from me and I want to eventually become one of the best midfielders in Europe, adding things to my game and scoring more goals. I can still improve my style.
Let’s talk about Arsenal. Do you understand fans disappointed by the fact that you do not win the Premier since 2004?
Yes of course. We are disappointed too. This season could have been a great opportunity. Hopefully it’ll be a lesson to next take into next season.
How does Wenger motivate you year after year?
The coach is more passionate every season with the game, and winning things. He is always with us in training. He insists a lot on the quality of the passes, which must always be excellent.
Overall, the team needs to be more consistent. Not play three good games and an average one.
[Insert your own joke here about 3 average ones and 1 good one].
Who is your favorite Spanish player?
Iniesta. I love how he makes the difficult things look easy, how he moves the ball. He is very intelligent. I love watching him play.
You have been linked with Barcelona it more than once.
Barca play very good football and Arsenal want to do the same. I’ve said it before: I would love to someday play in La Liga, in one of the greats. I see their league each week. It suits my style. Maybe I will someday, who knows what will happen in the future?
[Then there’s a question about the interminably stupid Ramsey goal = celebrity death thing, but that whole thing is too stupid for words].
So there you go. Some blinding insight from Arzy Ramzer. Bale likes it in Spain, he’d like to go there one day, and he likes Iniesta.
Ever so much fun.
Hopefully that day will come soon, a very average player who has an atrocious injury record.
I agree. He’s too slow and indecisive on the ball and slows our play down too much. Elneny, Coquelin, Wilshere (when actually fit), Cazorla, and our new boy Xhaka should all be ahead of him in the midfield pecking order, and he lacks the pace, skill and positional sense to ever be more than a wildcard option on the right wing.
Good for depth/squad rotation, but little else.
It’s laughable to think that he could ever play got Barcelona. He is not good enough to start for the Arsenal let alone barca. A decent player who could do well at a lesser team as their star player. Would keep him as squad player but can’t see us winning leagues with him in middle.
reckon when he reads this he’ll cry ever so many tears
Shame we can’t transfer some of our supporters to a level more suited to their abilities. Hyde United under-16s would be the level for some of the people on here.
What the hell. Did anyone actually read the article? I know we had a disappointing season but really? We can’t just let Ramsey have a pointless interview? Where is all this bile coming from? Support the shirt and those who don it? Jesus. Oh yeah. The Welsh one we all praised not too long ago. Are we really that Fairweather club now?
Man you guys are douches. He destroyed it and was our best player a few years back and has wondergoals in his locker. Get off his fucking back you fairweather turncoats and give him a chance this season.
He’s only had 1/2 of a good season and confidently talks about using us as a stepping stone for his personal dream of going to Spain and we’re the douches for not being “loyal” to him? How’s the snapchat banter there Ramsey?
That’s just it he was a great player a few years back. He wasn’t really, he was never as good as some believed and never as bad as some believe. He had a period where everything he did came off. Since then he has been average at best.
I’ll pay for his plane ticket
He had a good response to the (agreed b*llocks) celebrity thing – that Messi and Ronaldo score every week and every week a celebrity dies.
If he gets scoring goals again we’re bound to want to keep him. Or sell him for a fortune.
As per last season, he’d make a great signing for Athletic Bilbao/Celta Vigo. Poor stuff to say, really.
Seems someone is afraid of a little bit of competition
He’s been talking up a La Liga move for a few seasons at least now.
It’s a faithful reminder to fans that though we may adore players and believe they love the club and the badge as much as we do, they don’t. At least few do.
People may say we’re too harsh on Ramsey and how we can become great. But make no mistake, if a season or two, Ramsey performs as the best CM in the league, he’d push for a move to Barca himself.
These players ain’t loyal (oooooooh)
Who is your favorite Spanish player?
Iniesta. I love how he makes the difficult things look easy, how he moves the ball.
[Insert joke here about making easy things look difficult]
This isn’t new, he said he wanted to eventually play in Spain when he was breaking into Cardiff’s team
Someday soon he will but not the Barcelona team he seems to like or even Real. unfortunately his stock has fallen. Lets see how he performs this coming season.
He’s nowhere near the standard of Bale! He needs to get his head down and start working hard on his game. I think he’s only ever had one good season for us.
Based on his contribution last season (or is it still this season) and not potential, I wouldn’t have a problem if we cashed in.
However, I hope he has a much better 4-5 seasons with us and goes to them in the same way that Henry did – big name but just past his peak,for a very good price 😉
I wouldn’t really describe 16m as being “a very good price” really.
Not awful, but certainly not some kind of transfer wizardry on our part.
Erm pretty sure it was 26 million
Nope. In fact, Tottenham paid more for Darren Bent than Barcelona did for Thierry Henry. It was a terrible bit of business on Arsenal’s part.
Pretty sure the terrible business was really by our shadow-bound neighbours
An even worse bit of business on Tottenham’s part though….
Seeing as how Alan Shearer had been sold for £1m less, 11 years prior to Henry being sold, tells me it was bad on Arsenal’s part.
They’d already done the same with Vieira, letting him go for £13m when he should’ve been worth £25m.
Agreed we should have got more ££ for Henry.
I certainly hope that in the future for any sale to them we add a DNA surcharge. After all these players come with matching DNA, that has to account for something.
He’s definitely good enough to start for Real… Sociedad.
Him and Vela would make a killer duo..ruling the middle of the table with RS.
Vela scored 5 goals in 35 appearances in the league this season. Looks like we were right to cash in on his buy-back clause when we did.
Wow. Without wanting to be overly critical of someone just doing their job those questions really are just one step above ‘What’s your favourite colour?’ Ramsey: ‘It’s green Arzy. Green is by far my favourite colour, always has been. I remember the first time I saw the colour green and I thought that’s the colour for me. I remember when I was 5 and I had a green jumper and I remember thinking Life doesn’t get much better than this for I love green and I an also wearing green. Brilliant. A few years later my best friend tried to… Read more »
Thanks man. That chuckle/snort altered the course of a day that had veered towards the disastrous. The coffee sprayed on my screen is of little account. Pity I hadn’t read this before my Journalism final exam.
Ramsey can become one of the best midfielders in Europe if he concentrates
on being a better team player for Arsenal, and by being less concerned with
individual glory.
THIS!
Agreed. I think he has a potential to be great but he is so selfish.. Deluded actually coz he is not so good individually.
I wonder whether Ramsey watches games he has played in to review his performances.
I think that comes under cruel and unusual punishment.
Magneto has spoken.
Ramsey is a magnificent player with a great engine. He frustrates at times but when it clicks he’s got the class to be a true great. I just hope next time he hits form he’s with us rather than someone else…
Stop check do a 360 turn with ball look for pass over hit pass throw arms up in air repeat again and again till injured…
score FA cup winner for first Arsenal trophy in 9 years
score opening goal with instinctive flick against spurs this season
Yeah, teams in la Liga love midfielders of below average technical standard. Sounds like a natural fit for him.
I normally sympathise with players who get quoted like this, when they’re really just answering loaded questions from sneaky journos as honestly as they can. No sympathy here. These quotes go beyond the call of a footballer’s media duty. Ramsey is in my view being deliberately provocative, and as someone who has always backed him to the hilt, I’m really disappointed.
A mediocre player who goes for glory instead of sticking to his task. Dreaming of Spain? You’re just about right for Tenerife.
It’s irrelevant. He wouldn’t even get in the arsenal team if we spent our money and made the squad as strong as it should be.
I will carry him on my back to any club in Spain for as little as £5 Million.
Bang average player.
Nothing new here, you can hardly blame a player for wanting to go to madrid or barcelona. I just hope that by the time he does he’s given his best years to Arsenal and he doesn’t forget his responsibility here while he tries to earn a move elsewhere. If he can do that last part then that’s really all that matters.
Why don’t we sell him already. He has got the typical modern day footballer mentality. Im going to get a lot of stick for this but I’ll say it anyways. I’d rather the injury gods saved diaby and rosicky than Ramsey if given a choice.
Can’t fault Ramsey here for wanting to go to Barcelona.
The pricks from Spain are known to throw cash at Arsenal and keep plucking shit from us in the hope of getting some better quality (looking at you A Song, A Hleb ; primarily at you Song).
So, there you go!
I have reasoned his valid belief that he could play for Barcelona, and who can fault him when he looks at Song every f*cking day.
I do like his work rate and he can be pretty comvative in the middle, but the totally abandoning his post to bomb forward and the total disarray it leaves the team.shape.in.is inexcusable.for.me. Ramsey is far from.a.complete player. Flog him, bring in Kante, who has an.even better engine and team.discipline and suddenly we have a midfield nobody is going to.waltz through
Apologies for the multiple full stops☺
the thing I hate about him is his over confidence. he always wants to show off and only in attacking third. he is always in way over his head. he has a run of form every rare once in a while and all the other time he is fucking things up smiling afterwards. good player maybe a star for a midtable team but never a team player for a top team. not until he understands its not all about him. sad thing is I think in a team like Barca along weight of their big names he would finally be… Read more »
He.d get a fucking bollocking from Messi et al if he screwed up so.many attacking moves there
Well, at least he is honest about it. Being upfront about your ambitions is quite refreshing.
I like Ramsey, but I hope he goes soon and we get a big sum for him and then spend it on a player who can change his style to the team better and not need a injury prone squad to be carefully calibrated to him.
If he keeps serving up the toilet football he has this season he may well get his wish, to play in Spain, granted, but for Levante…
Not to be overly critical here, but apart from saying his style’s suited to Spanish football (can anyone genuinely see him fitting into Barcelona’s system?) one thing really stood out here; “I’d like to add more goals”. Sorry, but there’s A LOT of aspects to his game which need to be fine-tuned before that (especially if he makes a thing about wanting to play in the middle again). Someone else has already mentioned it on this thread, but it really has to be questioned- does Ramsey ever reflect on his past performances as a method of improvement?! I know there’s… Read more »
Don’t you have to be able to pass the ball to play for Barcelona?
I know he was just answering questions, but the lack of self awareness is clear. A great response, although from a biased fan’s perspective, would be something along the lines of: Yes Barca and Real are great clubs and attractive teams to play for but I’m focusing on improving my own performances for Arsenal at the moment so we win that fucking title next year. Yet, Ramsey is talking about how he would like to join the big boys when his performances don’t match the talk. A slight tinge of Walcott about his media involvement and lack of self awareness… Read more »
Wtf is with all this Ramsey hate? He’s gonna kill it this season just you watch.
Your deluded fella but keep watching
This is one player I would absolutely love to lose. He is killing our game. The worse part is that he thinks he is that good. He is not. Sail on please player !
A little surprised by this. I am a fan too but I like to see him start over Cazorla/Xhaka before thinking Barca/Madrid unless he’s thinking Getafe.
I wonder if people are watching the same games as I am? And I watch nearly all of them. Ramsey is the complete midfielder, strong, great technique, great engine, great passing (not quite Ozil but hey), decent speed, decent dribbler, always gives 100%. Wish he could recalibrate his shooting sights to those of that golden season, and he does make a few mistakes on the ball, sometimes in succession, but I think some people are not watching closely enough if they think he’s the weak link in this team.
I think this is exactly right–maybe not “great passing” but very good. In other words, overall a very good player, especially in important games, who should (and perhaps will) score more consistently. Many valuable qualities, and a new number.
“does make a few mistakes on the ball, sometimes in succession”
The problem is, that it’s not a few.
I hope he does it but not convinced.
Clearly we are not watching the same games as you. You sure your not talking about play station. Ramsey speed please
You really spec savers. Rambo is cack. He is Westbrom level!
Aaron what’s all of this repeated talk of you leaving for a better club??
Please don’t leave us…hold on, actually, do what you fucking want as you ain’t all that mate!
COYG!
Big year coming up for Ramsey. He may be one of Wenger’s favorites but we’ve got some competition in the middle now providing Jack can stay fit. I don’t mind him out wide but would much prefer a natural wide man with pace or even Campbell ahead of him on pecking order for the wing.
If he doesn’t get back to his form from 2 years ago, we should let him entertain those La Liga fantasies.
Seriously our fan base hold onto the fact he had a (A) singular good season. An amazing season at that. But I’ve no doubt he saw some kind of witch doctor that season bcoz that is not Aaron ramsey. He is our most consistent player. Passes sideways leaves huge gaps in the middle and gives the ball away. EVERY WEEK BLUD! EVERY WEEK FAM! he can go. I’d give him to barca for his £5mil and be done with it. But I’m sure he’ll be the forst name on the sheet next season and lo and behold our weak back… Read more »
Ramsey comes on and we concede. Good player — work rate, decent touches, but bombs forward too much and can’t retain the ball. He’s decent as winger as at least he’s not a defensive liability
Ramsey is a galactico in his own head, he’ll play out of his skin at the Euros for Wales, and then when we get a good offer for him Wenger won’t sell him because he’s his favourite. It really annoys me that the number 8 shirt has gone from one of the most selfless players in the team to one of the most selfish. We had half a season when he was OK, the rest of the time he’s rubbish, and like his mate Theo he seems totally oblivious to his faults.
Ramsey has shown the ability , winning goal against Dortmund. Goals against Liverpool. That season when playing alongside arteta’s ( hopefully now with Chaka) will complement styles. I remember garyblinrkar and mark Lawrence ( not Arsenal friendly pundits)talking about him as mid season candidate for player of the season . Before yay a tour e cropped him late injuring him in the 6-3 game in Manchester ( was there, so late the tv pictures cut away so couldn’t see on to coverage. It was a late stamp on ankle which he went into hand as a risk ( Wenger fault… Read more »
Down thumb for being so long and boring
Problem is sir and I don’t like to burst your bubble but that season was 2013 I think. We are now heading to a new season that ends in 2017.
I remember when we used to support players wearing the badge. I’m disgusted by the vitriol and easy dismissal of a man who got his leg snapped in two wearing our shirt. And came back. And was pretty good. Wow. Talk about support over a meaningless interview. Plastics have really taken over.
Since when was getting your leg broken a free pass for years of mediocrity and lack of discipline?. I’m really sorry he had his leg broken, I really am, and yes, he came back, but for two and a half seasons he was garbage, and my heart sank when I saw his name on the starting line up before a game. He had half a season when he was pretty good, became a welsh jesus, got a modelling contract and it all went to his head, he’s been rubbish ever since. There was a time when he was willing to… Read more »