Aaron Ramsey

Aaron James Ramsey (born 26 December 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for the premier league club Arsenal and is the captain of the Wales national football team. A creative box-to-box midfielder with a tireless workrate and wide range of passing, he established himself as the playmaker for Arsenal following the departure of Cesc Fàbregas.

Ramsey played for Cardiff City as a schoolboy where he spent eight years in youth football before making 16 appearances for the senior team. Ramsey moved to Arsenal in 2008 in a £5 million deal, where he quickly gained first team experience. However, his progress was put on hold after suffering a broken leg in a match in the 2009–10 season, in a bad challenge from Stoke City's Ryan Shawcross. He marked his competitive return for Arsenal in 2011 after completing loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City.

Early Life

As a child Ramsey attended Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni in the Caerphilly County Borough. Before turning to football, he was a keen rugby player and as a schoolboy he played as a winger for Caerphilly R.F.C.s youth development programme, where he was approached by scouts from Rugby League side St Helens RLFC after playing in a youth match against them but had already been signed by Cardiff City's youth academy. He lived with his parents, Marlene and Kevin, and his brother, Josh until moving to London where he was housemate with former Cardiff City teammate, Chris Gunter, who was then playing for Tottenham Hotspur before moving to Nottingham Forest. Ramsey is bilingual, speaking both Welsh and English.

Arsenal

On 10 June 2008 it was confirmed that after meeting officials from Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton, Ramsey had decided to join Arsenal, who paid Cardiff City a total of £4.8 million for the player. The move was completed on 13 June 2008 on what is said to be a long-term contract. The main reason he chose Arsenal ahead of the other clubs that pursued his signature was the approach of Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who flew him and his family to Switzerland to talk about the plans Wenger had for him and his potential future with Arsenal. Wenger described Ramsey as "a player with a fantastic engine, good build, good technique and good vision".

Ramsey made his competitive debut for Arsenal in the Champions League Third Qualifying Round against FC Twente on 13 August 2008 and his league debut a month later against Blackburn Rovers on 13 September 2008, marking it with an assist to Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal's fourth and Adebayor's third. On 23 September 2008 he completed 90 minutes in Arsenal's third round Carling Cup game against Sheffield United where he added two more assists to his season's tally, setting up Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela, which Arsenal won 6–0. He scored his first goal for the club in their 5–2 victory away against Fenerbahçe in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League by shooting a long range shot which hit the left post and went in, becoming the fifth youngest scorer in Champions League history, and only the second player born in the 1990s to score a Champions League goal. Ramsey was named amongst host of young players poised to shine in 2009 by Fifa.com. On 1 July 2009, he signed a new long-term contract at Arsenal.

On 22 August, Ramsey scored his first league goal in a one-on-one against goalkeeper David James as Arsenal beat Portsmouth 4–1at Emirates Stadium and then set up Andrei Arshavin in a 3–1 home win over Celtic in the Champions League play-offs. In the 28 October Carling Cup fourth round win against Liverpool, he produced an impressive performance and set up Nicklas Bendtner that earned him the Man of the Match award.

Ramsey made his first Premier League start of the season on November 7, 2009 as Arsenal beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1 at Molineux with Ramsey completing 90-minutes for the first time in the top-flight. Four days after the game, he was awarded the Welsh Young Player of the Year award. On 6 December 2009, Ramsey scored his second league goal of the season in a comfortable 2–0 victory over Stoke City. On 30 December, Ramsey went on to score his third goal of the season, along with an assist in the 4–1 victory against Portsmouth. On 3 January 2010, Ramsey scored a 78th minute equaliser in the F.A. Cup third round tie against West Ham United at Upton Park. Arsenal went on to win the tie 2–1, with Eduardo scoring a 83rd minute header. Ramsey went on to be named E.ON Man of the Match. Ramsey has been described by manager Arsène Wenger as: "An offence-minded Roy Keane" and "an all-round player, with a fantastic ability to cover distances."

On 27 February 2010, Arsenal played Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, where a tackle by Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross caused a double fracture in Ramsey's lower right leg. Ramsey was hospitalised, and it was later confirmed that he had broken his tibia and fibula. No return date was initially given,but it was announced on March 20 that he started walking without his crutches. Ramsey signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal on 1 June 2010. He returned to training in October 2010. On 23 November 2010, Ramsey made his return to competitive football for the Arsenal reserve team against the Wolverhampton Wanderers reserve team at Arsenal's London Colney training ground. On 16 August 2011, Ramsey made his first Champions League appearance of the season at home against Udinese. In the fourth minute of the match he assisted on Theo Walcott's goal that gave Arsenal the 1–0 advantage in the first leg of the match. Four days later he played a league game at the Emirates against Liverpool where on the 78th minute of play, Ignasi Miquel's attempted clearance hit Ramsey and looped into the back of the net past Wojciech Szczęsny for an own goal. The game finished 2–0 to Liverpool.
On 17 September 2011, Ramsey assisted on Mikel Arteta for Arsenal's second goal as the team lost 4–3 away to Blackburn Rovers in a Premier League game. He was widely criticised for his performance lately for slowing down the tempo of the game and being indecisive in passing. However, he had a solid game during a convincing 3–0 Premier League win against Bolton Wanderers on 24 September 2011. He provided an assist for the Arsenal captain Robin van Persie by a through ball in less than one minute after the half-time break. He made another important through pass to Theo Walcott on the 54th minute that saw David Wheater sent off for pulling Walcott from the back.
On 19 October 2011, he scored a dramatic last minute winner against Olympique Marseille in an important group stage match of the UEFA Champions League. On 23 October 2011, he produced a chipped ball over the Stoke City defense to assist Gervinho for the first goal in a 3–1 win for the Gunners.
On 5 November 2011, he aided Arsenal to open the score against West Bromwich Albion in a Premier League in the Emirates Stadium with an exquisite pass that allowed Theo Walcott to shoot. The ball was then parried by the West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster and tapped in the back of the net by Robin van Persie.

International

Ramsey had his first taste of international action when he was called up for the Wales U17s in 2005. A part of the new wave of young talents to emerge from the Wales youth teams, he debuted for the U21 side on 21 August 2007 in a 4–3 away win over Sweden U21s several months shy of his seventeenth birthday, breaking former club mate Chris Gunter's record. Youth coach Brian Flynn revealed that Ramsey had been purposely held back in the U21s to help qualify for the 2009 U21 European Championships but they lost a close contest to England U21s in the play-offs, where Ramsey himself scored a wonderful volley with his weaker foot in the second leg at Villa Park. Ramsey made his debut for the Wales national football team on 19 November 2008 versus Denmark in a friendly, aged 17, breaking the record set by Chris Gunter as the youngest Welsh international On 14 October 2009, he scored his first senior goal in the 2010 World Cup qualifier away at Liechtenstein from a free kick awarded for a trip on Gareth Bale. As the World Cup qualification campaign came to an end, he and 11 other senior internationals were recalled to Flynn's preliminary U21 squad on 30 October for a qualifier but later withdrew. On 6 November, Toshack also called him up for the 14 November friendly against Scotland. Wales won 3–0 and Ramsey was involved in all of them – assisting David Edwards' opener, setting up Joe Ledley to assist the second and then scoring a solo effort. Ramsey was awarded the FAW's Young Player of the Year award that same month.
Ramsey was named permanent captain of Wales, beginning with the match versus England on 26 March 2011. This made him the youngest ever Wales captain at the age of 20 years 90 days, beating the record set by Mike England in 1964. He scored his first goal as captain in Wales' final Carling Nations Cup match against Northern Ireland on 27 May 2011.