Aaron Ramsey has previously explained his reasons for choosing Arsenal over Manchester United as a teenager. At the time, the 17-year-old midfielder had caught the attention of several clubs, including Everton, after his impressive performances at his boyhood club, Cardiff City. Ramsey made history at Cardiff when manager Dave Jones handed him his debut in April 2007, making him the youngest player to represent the club, surpassing a record held by John Toshack. After 22 appearances for Cardiff, Ramsey attracted interest from notable managers, including Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, and Arsene Wenger.
Ramsey spoke about his experience in an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, providing insight into his thoughts during that pivotal time in his life.
Aaron Ramsey said “I was always a Cardiff supporter, but my dad was a Manchester United fan, and I watched them quite a lot with him. It was a strange time in my life, to have two teams I’d watched so much as a child showing interest in me. I spoke to both managers on the phone a few times. It was mad.”
He further elaborated on his decision to join Arsenal in a 2020 interview with Sky Sports.
Aaron Ramsey said “Arsenal felt like the right decision for me. I remember showing up to training on my first day and seeing Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas… I had to pinch myself. I was like, ‘What on Earth am I doing here?’ It was an exciting time for me. I had some tough decisions to make, but I felt that Arsene and Arsenal made a big effort to get me to join them. They took me and my family to Switzerland, where he was covering the Euros at the time. I met him there, and his plan and his vision of developing me into the player he saw was quite exciting to take up. There are no regrets from my side. [Wenger] has a track record of bringing through young players and turning them into great players. That was what was important for me, that I went straight into the first-team environment and was given an opportunity early on to show what I could do, even at that age. I had opportunities when I went there. I played and trained every day with the first team, so for me, it was the right decision.”