Arsenal are preparing to sell Aaron Ramsey this summer to avoid a repeat of the Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil sagas, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday.

Ramsey’s contract expires next summer and there appears to have been little movement between the parties in terms of agreeing a new deal.

Talks are underway, however, with reports in the media claiming the Welshman wants a significant pay hike to stay at the club.

Wales manager Ryan Giggs confirmed that these talks are more than just paper gossip when he said recently, “I hope Aaron sorts it out sooner rather than later.

Mail on Sunday sport back page 4 march 2018
Mail on Sunday 4 March 2018

“Any player having talks with contracts you want it sorted out as quickly as possible.

“He’s at a good club. From a personal point of view when you’re at a club you’re used to, it can help you. You know all the staff and the players.

“I was always happy, there was always a challenge at United so I never saw any reason to leave. I was happy playing my football. I never got bored or felt the need to go anywhere else.”

Ramsey famously turned down Manchester United to join Arsenal in 2008 and it’s impossible to think he hasn’t considered how very different his career might have been had he picked Sir Alex Ferguson instead of Arsene Wenger. His medal haul would certainly be a lot more substantial and his leg would probably not have been snapped in two.

Gigg’s time at United is incomparable to Ramsey’s at Arsenal, however. It is far from a foregone conclusion that Ramsey is happy in north London and a move could be very tempting, not least for the chance to start from scratch with a new set of fans rather than continuing to endure the horrendous abuse he gets from some quarters of the Arsenal fan base.

Wenger has been surprisingly quiet on the subject of Ramsey but even if did speak about it, he would just tell us he is confident of a deal being agreed as that’s his default answer regardless of reality.