Aaron Ramsey’s agent, David Baldwin, is pushing him not to sign a new deal with the club, and to leave on a free transfer when his contract expires instead.
According to rumours on social media, the agent thinks Ramsey could possibly get a move to the likes of Barcelona if he bides his time. As a result, Arsenal are having very little success convincing the 27-year-old to stay.
The one thing the club doesn’t want is another long drawn-out contract saga, and that’s exactly what they seem to be heading for.
Arsenal growing concerned David Baldwin is pushing Aaron Ramsey not to sign a new agreement and possibly end up on a free transfer. Arsenal wont allow that. There is belief that Barcelona could be a possible destination. Club have been making overtures with no real encouragement
— Darren (@DarrenArsenal1) May 13, 2018
This season, Arsenal had to deal with Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez stalling on new deals and running their contracts down. In the end, Sanchez got a move to Manchester United and Özil got a major new contract. Essentially, they’ve laid out the blueprint for how to use the club to get a move or more money.
Anyone who watched Barcelona play without Lionel Messi on Sunday will know the club could do with reinforcements. They put in a pretty terrible performance and were lucky not to lose by more than 5-4 to Levante. It’s not entirely unrealistic that they might consider a move for an in form Ramsey.
Hopefully, the agent is just playing hardball, and they’ll sign a new deal if they get an acceptable offer. The identity of the next manager and the next club captain will probably also play a part. We’ll see if that ends up being the case.