Aaron James Ramsey (born 26 December 1990 in Caerphilly)[1] is a Welsh footballer, who plays as a central midfielder for Arsenal.
Cardiff CityAfter impressing in an Urdd tournament as a youngster he signed for Cardiff City, who beat off competition from Newcastle United. As a schoolboy at the age of eight working his way through the club's youth system, he eventually made his Cardiff City debut in the last home game of the 2006-07 Championship season, coming on to replace Paul Parry in the final minute of the 1-0 defeat to Hull City on 28 April 2007. In doing so, Ramsey became the youngest player to ever play for Cardiff City, aged just 16 years and 124 days,[2] beating the previous record holder John Toshack. In June 2007, Cardiff City turned down a bid of over £1m for Ramsey from a London-based Premier League club.[3] The club has not been named, but it is widely believed that they have continued to watch Ramsey at every available opportunity during the 2007-08 season. Cardiff also turned down a £1m offer, although the deal was to start with a payment of £200,000 and rise depending on his future achievements, from Everton.
He made his first league appearance of the 2007/08 season on 6 October, when he came on as a late substitute for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the 2-1 home win over Burnley. Ramsey signed his first professional contract in December 2007[4] and went on to make his first full professional start for Cardiff on 5 January in the FA Cup against non-league side Chasetown replacing the suspended Stephen McPhail. An impressive performance from Ramsey saw him head in the second Cardiff goal as they went on to win 3-1.[5] Due to his performance against Chasetown Ramsey was nominated for the Player Of The Round award, eventually losing out to Coventry's Michael Mifsud.[6] He went on to make his first career league start three weeks later in a 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers and began to establish himself in the first team making several more starts in the Cardiff side. He made a total of 22 appearances during the season, his first full season of professional football, and played in five of the club's six FA Cup matches, including the final. Infact, he was the second youngest player to play in an FA cup final.
Following Ramsey's impressive performance in the 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Middlesbrough it was revealed that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had talked to Cardiff boss Dave Jones to enquire about Ramsey, joining Arsenal and Everton in following his progress.[7] Cardiff Chairman Peter Ridsdale told the BBC that Arsenal's bid of £5 million up front had been accepted. Arsenal's bid did not include a loan clause that would allow Ramsey to stay at Cardiff for another season.[8]
ArsenalOn 10 June 2008 it was confirmed that after meeting officials from Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton, Ramsey had decided to join Arsenal for a fee of £5million. The move was completed on 13 June 2008 on a what is said to be a long-term contract. The main reason he chose Arsenal ahead of the other clubs that pursued his signature is the approach of Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who flew him and his family to Switzerland to talk about the plans Wenger had for him and his potential future with Arsenal. For the upcoming season Ramsey will wear the number 16 shirt vacated by Mathieu Flamini. [9] Ramsey made his debut for Arsenal against Barnet in a pre-season friendly at Underhill on 19 July 2008. He started the match but was replaced at half-time by Francis Coquelin.
Personal lifeAs a child he attended Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni in Caerphilly. Before turning to football, Ramsey was a keen Rugby player and as a schoolboy he played as a winger for Caerphilly R.F.C.'s youth development programme, where he was approached by scouts from Rugby league side St Helens RFC after playing in a youth match against them.[10] He currently still lives with his parents, Marlene and Kevin, and his brother Josh. Ramsey is bilingual, fluent in both Welsh and English. He is nicknamed Rambo by his teammates at Cardiff, after the famous fictional film character John Rambo.
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I'll post pics. later today!
