Arsenal withdrew their contract offer to Aaron Ramsey to leave him with “no other option” than to leave the club in the summer, according to his agency in a series of tweets that have since been deleted.
Ramsey appears to be the sacrifice for Mesut Özil’s new contract, understood to be worth a staggering £275,000-a-week, that saw Arsenal’s wage bill last season sore over £200m.
Having started extension talks more than a year ago, it now appears that Arsenal no longer want to keep the Wales international beyond the end of the season, which would continue the mass upheaval at the club following the departures of former manager Arsene Wenger, chief executive Ivan Gazidis and long-serving midfielder Jack Wilshere – who also left on a free transfer last season.
Neither Arsenal nor Ramsey have spoken publicly about his contract negotiations, but the Avid Sports and Entertainment Group, the agency responsible for handling Ramsey’s affair, posted a series of tweets overnight that clearly laid the decision at the feet of the club.
Having initially posted a statement to announce Ramsey’s new sponsorship agreement with AirX Charter, one fan responded to question the timing of the announcement, given the uncertainty surrounding his future at Arsenal.
Normally such messages would go unanswered, but the @avid_se Twitter account responded to imply that Arsenal were behind the breakdown in negotiations.
“There is nothing we can do Charlie,” the first tweet read in response to @afccharlie. “The club made a decision, life goes on.”
After receiving a response that highlighted Alexis Sanchez’s struggles since he left Arsenal for Manchester United – adding that the “grass ain’t always greener”, the account replied: “You’re right it isn’t always greener and he [Ramsey] didn’t want to leave, but now there is no other option.”
The tweets were deleted in the early hours of Wednesday morning, but other Arsenal fans spotted them before they disappeared, with screengrabs remaining on social media.
It’s understood that Arsenal had offered a four-year contract extension to the midfielder, which had been verbally agreed, only to retract it and end negotiations, meaning that Ramsey will be able to consider a free transfer at the end of the season, with clubs abroad able to approach him from January and Premier League rivals able to make him an offer at the end of the season.
