Arsenal have had an absolute contract mess on their hands in the last year and it doesn’t look like it will get any better soon.
Alexis Sanchez pouted until he was sold with six months left on his contract. Mesut Özil renewed his after about two years of speculation, and Jack Wilshere is currently in the news over speculation about his contract.
But one that has become lost in the shuffle is Aaron Ramsey’s contract.
The Welshman will have one season remaining on his contract this summer. Arsenal face a decision: to sell, or not to sell?
Ramsey is currently on £100,000 per week. A substantial sum, but he will no doubt be asking for salary of double that to bring him closer to other top-level stars like Özil.
Here is why he is worth that, and probably should also be given the vacant captain’s armband as well.
1Trophies
Football is about winning things. Winning is fun. And Ramsey has won trophies for the club.
When fans talk about the “legends” of the club, there is talk of fantastic goals, incredible bits of skill, but most of all it centres around what they won.
Silverware is king.
Ramsey has won three major trophies for Arsenal.
They may not be the trophies that Arsenal fans wanted the most, but they are major trophies nonetheless.
Having a direct hand in winning two of the three cements his club “legend” status.
Scoring the FA Cup Final winning goal in 2014 and 2017 will be memories that fans will hold onto forever.
The first because it ended a long title drought that Arsenal was much maligned for, and the second for finally vanquishing Chelsea and Diego Costa.
If scoring not one, but two cup final winning goals does not make a player worthy of being honored, then what does?
This is why the game is played. This is why Ramsey is an Arsenal legend.
And he deserves to be paid like one. The club should pay him whatever he wants. Not just for what he has done in the past, but for the likelihood of moments like these coming in the future as well.