Aaron Ramsey has withdrawn from the Wales squad for their friendly against Belarus and their Euro qualifier against Azerbaijan but neither Juventus nor his country have given a reason for his absence.

When Aaron Ramsey left for Juventus he was already injured. He picked up a trademark hamstring injury in April that put an end to his Arsenal career early, but he was supposed to have recovered from that. Indeed, the 28-year-old came on as a substitute in a pre-season friendly against Triestina earlier this month.

https://twitter.com/aaronramsey/status/1162841077101060097

But when Serie A got underway, the midfielder was not in the Juventus squad. Now, with his absence from the Wales squad, you have to ask if he’s suffered another setback? It was easy to dismiss his vanishing act with Juve as a lack of match fitness, but Wales have shown in the past a willingness to call up players lacking match fitness as long as they are generally fit otherwise.

https://twitter.com/Cymru/status/1166321147790708737

It’s also worth nothing that a lack of match fitness would not usually be used as a reason to withdraw after receiving a call-up. Indeed, a friendly would be the ideal stage to build that up.

During his time at Arsenal, excluding the 29 games he missed because of Ryan Shawcross, Ramsey missed 83 games on top of the tail-end of the 18/19 season.

Of the 14 reported injuries he has suffered since his leg was snapped like a twig, seven have involved his hamstring while three have concerned his thigh and another two involved his groin.