Former Arsenal Star Rejects Lucrative Saudi Pro League Offer In Favour Of The Championship

In an interesting piece of football transfer news, Aaron Ramsey has rejected an offer to play in the Saudi Pro League and decided to sign for Cardiff City.

🗣️ "It feels unbelievable to finally be back here. I always thought one day I’d come back, and now it’s the perfect time to do that.

"To be back with my family and around familiar faces is just brilliant, so I’m delighted to be back here now."#CityAsOne | @aaronramsey

— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) July 15, 2023

The former Arsenal star will complete a remarkable fairytale journey by turning out in the Championship this coming season for his boyhood club, where he will wear the No 10 shirt.

Ramsey signed a two-year contract with the Bluebirds this Saturday, July 15, after leaving Ligue 1 outfit Nice in France, who were previously managed by the former Arsenal legend, Patrick Vieira. This weekend’s sensational move brings the 32-year-old Welsh international full circle in his career.

In an emotional moment, Sonny, his oldest son, started his footballing career by signing for Cardiff’s Academy on the same day that his father confirmed his move.

Sonny Ramsey is a #Bluebird! 💙

Sonny and his dad @AaronRamsey put pen-to-paper at the same time today, on the famous Ninian Park boardroom table. ✍️

Welcome home, Aaron and welcome, Sonny! 😍#CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/MGjbjVqdg6

— Cardiff City Academy (@CF11Academy) July 15, 2023

In an official statement from the Welsh club, Ramsey said: ‘It feels unbelievable to finally be back here. I always thought one day I’d come back, and now it’s the perfect time to do that’.

‘To be back with my family and around familiar faces is just brilliant, so I’m delighted to be back here now. I’ve missed that a lot in the last year or so, so it was important for me to be back around them’, he continued.

‘Obviously I’m a Cardiff City fan, and watching them over the years since I’ve been away, we’ve had some low points but some big highs as well, being in the Premier League and representing Cardiff on the big stage. That’s a target of mine – to try and help my teammates and this club to get back to the top’, he explained.

‘I’ve said it many times in the past – I owe so much to Cardiff, to the fans, to everybody who has been at the Club when I was here as a young boy coming through. For me now to come full circle, to be part of this team now, and hopefully achieve the goals we want, there’s no better feeling than that’, Ramsey concluded.

Erol Bulut was delighted to welcome Ramsey to Cardiff

‘This is, of course, a great day. Aaron started here, and now he is back to help us to achieve our targets. First of all I want to thank Tan Sri Vincent Tan for making everything possible’, commented a delighted coach, Erol Bulut, the former Turkish international.

He added: ‘Also, our Chairman, Mehmet Dalman, and Ken Choo. They have worked very hard over the last two or three weeks. Aaron has had a great career. In the Premier League, then Italy and France, and now back home in Cardiff. I hope his last years with us will be great too, and I hope we can make our dreams come true’.

Aaron Ramsey began his career with Cardiff City

As a teenager, Ramsey cut his teeth with the Welsh club before embarking on a highly successful 11-year spell with the English Premier League giants Arsenal in 2008.

He racked up a total of 369 appearances for the Gunners during his time in North London. Ramsey participated in three FA Cup wins and also played in the 4-1 Europa League final defeat by Chelsea in 2019.

In 2019 he made the switch to Serie A legends Juventus in Italy, where he made 70 appearances and picked up medals for winning the league title, the Italian Cup, and the Italian Super Cup.

A loan spell in Glasgow with Rangers saw Ramsey appear in another Europa League final and also collect a Scottish Cup winners medal before leaving to join Nice. He is known to have spurned various big offers from Saudi Arabia in favour of remaining in Wales.

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