Martin Keown: Aaron Ramsey May Need Parity With Mesut Ozil To Stay At Arsenal

By The Editor
on 7th October 2018

Martin Keown feels Aaron Ramsey is playing the ‘Ozil game’ with Arsenal as contract dispute continues…

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Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes Aaron Ramsey may be demanding a similar pay package to Mesut Ozil to stay as the midfielder’s contract runs down, he told BT Sport.

Ramsey came on in the second half to score a sensational team goal at Fulham as we secured our sixth Premier League win in succession.

His contract has been a talking point for almost 12 months and after Ozil ran his deal down before reportedly being offered a massive £350k per week deal, Keown feels a precedent may have been set.

The latest update we have on the talks is that there is no longer an offer on the table from Arsenal after it was dramatically withdrawn with all parties close to a deal.

As it stands, Ramsey will leave the club on a Bosman in June, just as Jack Wilshere did.

“He might be looking at what other people are earning,” Keown said.

“Ozil is not even there today [against Fulham] and you couldn’t say he was missed, but he’s set the tone on what the salary is and maybe Ramsey is looking to get somewhere near his money.”

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Asked what Emery could do to rectify the situation, Keown was blunt in his response: “It’s basically out of his hand. It’s been allowed to run so long that you’re not really in control.”

The structure at the club has shifted drastically over the past few months and after handing Emery the title of head coach, decisions on player contracts are literally out of his hands – by design.

And, after the departure of Ivan Gazidis, Raul Sanllehi is the man who has the last say.