Aaron Ramsey’s contract situation has become a hot topic in recent days – so what has Unai Emery made of it all? The Wales international’s deal is due to expire at the end of the season, and our head coach had his say in Friday’s press conference:
on whether he considers Aaron important…
For me, every player is very important with their relation with the team. I consider each player an important space in the squad.
on whether he has told the board he would like Aaron to stay…
There are three elements, three aspects. One is the player and also the player with their family and representatives. The other is the club and the other is the squad. My focus is always on the team. My focus is preparing with the players and only thinking about the match tomorrow. Each player has individual aspects to work or to do or to speak with the club or with the team, but my aspect for the focus, only to think, is the matches and preparing for the matches and to speak with the players if they are thinking and are very concentrated on work for giving us the best performance and to help the collective performance.
Aaron Ramsey is adamant he will not be forced out of Arsenal in January and is determined to wait for a lucrative free transfer in the summer. Arsenal were close to agreeing a new deal with the Wales international, scorer of two FA Cup final winners during his 10 years of service, but reports earlier this week claimed the offer had been withdrawn. New manager Unai Emery appears to have deemed the 27-year-old a non-essential component of his future plans, while the club are unwilling to sanction the sort of seismic pay rise which saw Mesut Ozil sign a new contract in February worth a staggering £350,000-a-week.