On the final day of the transfer window, it was hard to imagine any Arsenal player could attract more attention than Mesut Ozil.
In the few matches Ozil has played since his move to North London, he hasn’t disappointed. On Sunday, his hat-trick of assists against Stoke City showed that he has the potential to be worth every penny of that £42 million transfer fee.
However, it was a different player who grabbed the headlines following Sunday’s match. Transfer deadline day aside, this has been the case for most of this season.
Aaron Ramsey scored his seventh goal of the season on Sunday, continuing a sublime run of form that began with his goal in Arsenal’s Champion’s League qualifier at Fenerbahce in August. Two more goals in the return leg of that tie, plus goals against Sunderland, Marseille and Stoke have cemented him as Arsenal’s surprise revelation of the season.
Ramsey joined Arsenal as a promising youngster in June 2008 for £5million. He was making progress as a squad player until, in 2010, he suffered that career-threatening injury when a tackle from Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross broke his leg in two places.
It took nearly a year for Ramsey to play competitively again. When he did return, he was sent on loan to Cardiff City. He returned to Arsenal and made regular appearances, but his form could be unreliable and he tended to leave fans frustrated.
Arsenal fans watched Eduardo suffer a similar injury just two seasons before Ramsey’s. He never returned to his previous form and moved to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2010. Many began to think Ramsey might be on the same path.
Last season, Ramsey scored six goals in 105 games. This season it’s seven goals in eight. So what exactly has caused this incredible turnaround?
For the first time, he is regularly playing as a central midfielder, where he has more opportunity to get into key goalscoring positions. Previously, he was often isolated on the wing or expected to fill a more defensive role. Now he’s playing in the much-missed Cesc Fabregas role and making a success of it.
The addition of Matthieu Flamini has been of huge benefit to Ramsey. More defence-minded, Flamini’s addition allows Ramsey to run forward, so he is both scoring goals and making those telling passes that Fabregas used to make.
His confidence is higher than ever. After Sunday’s match, he told Sky Sports: “I’m enjoying my football at the moment. I think that’s one of the biggest improvements from last season; I’m a bit more composed in front of goal and things are coming off.”
He has now fully recovered from that injury – physically, yes, but mentally and emotionally as well. This is a credit to both the player and Wenger’s management. After the Sunderland match, Wenger told the BBC: “He’s a different player to a year ago.”
Watching Ramsey enjoying this run of form has struck a chord with Arsenal fans. There is still a lot of anger surrounding the Stoke incident, shown by the reception Shawcross received at the Emirates on Sunday. That Ramsey was the player to cement Arsenal’s win made the victory even sweeter.
Ramsey’s goal in that match was closure on his injury. It was the perfect symbol of his full recovery, showing that he’s put the trauma behind him for good.
If he continues in this vein, he could become a great player. And that is something this modest youngster certainly deserves.
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.