Former Arsenal players Martin Keown and John Hartson have lamented the fact that the club's 'best player' Aaron Ramsey is leaving the Gunners this summer.
The latest reaction to Ramsey's departure for Juventus came on Thursday evening after his starring role again highlighted key mistakes by the club.
Arsenal cruised to a 2-0 win over Napoli in the Europa League quarter-final first leg, with Ramsey bagging the first goal of the night after brilliant build-up play.
But Ramsey's performance was again bitter sweet for Keown and Hartson due to the fact that the midfielder is leaving for the Serie A this summer, with both pundits labelling Ramsey as Arsenal's most important player above Mesut Ozil right now.
"It's a sad situation and he's a victim of circumstances. He continues to mature as a player and he's a real leader for Arsenal now," Keown told BT Sport.
"He is so important to everything they do. He has become an outstanding player from box to box. He's got a great attitude. I think he has been treated harshly.
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"If I was picking between Ozil and Ramsey right now it would have to be Ramsey. The player that is the most valuable for Arsenal is Ramsey."
Hartson echoed Keown's thoughts by adding: "Arsenal are letting him go for nothing which is incredbile. Technically he is very good and he covers more ground than any other player. His biggest asset is that he's a goalscoring midfielder."
Hartson then suggested that had Arsenal been able to part with Ozil in the January transfer window that they may have kept Ramsey, but Keown countered that.
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Keown added: "They gave Ozil that contract in good faith. It's not Ozil's fault. They had the money, it's just a shame the contract was taken away from Ramsey."
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