Wales will lose £50,000 if Aaron Ramsey doesn’t play in the China Cup next month, and £100,000 if Gareth Bale doesn’t make the trip.

In late March, the Chinese city of Nanning will hold the 2018 China Cup. The Czech Republic, Uruguay and Wales are set to join the host country for two matches each over the five days.

daily mail wales ramsey penalty 20 feb 2018
Daily Mail, p73 20 Feb 2018

According to Tuesday’s Daily Mail, the Welsh FA will receive £1m for their participation, but only if their star players turn up. If Ramsey or Bale stay at home, then money will be deducted as detailed above.

It all goes to show what a star player Ramsey is for club and country these days. He has 52 appearances for Wales, and has captained the side on a number of occasions.

His form with Arsenal is sure to sell tickets as well, with 14 goal contributions in 19 matches this season. All his recent Wembley triumphs with the club helped to build his profile as well.

Unfortunately, that means Wales will be all the more keen to take him along, rather than letting him rest. That’s just the price Arsenal pay for having internationals in the squad. Hopefully the trip and the two matches in China don’t take too much out of him.

Whether Wales get the chance to include him, however, may not be up to them. The midfielder is struggling to recover from a groin injury and given his history of injury problems, even if he does make it back before the trip to China, there is no guarantee he will be fit at the end of March.