The Situation
Arsenal announce that both Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey have signed extensions on their current contracts. No specific figures have been circulated as of yet, but there has been much speculation in the press recently that off the back of the young Welshman’s transition to becoming a key player at the Emirates, Ramsey’s deal will run until the summer of 2019 on a cool $100 k per-week. Cazorla has ticked all of Arsene Wenger’s boxes, not only with his general play since signing for the club in 2012, but with his exemplary attitude on and off the pitch, it stands to reason that the little Spaniard has suitably impressed his manager in securing himself a contract extension.
The Decision
In giving new deals to two of the clubs leading lights, not only does it (in theory) ensure that both players respective futures are very much geared towards Arsenal, but it’s also a gesture of faith from the club and Wenger towards the players.
In recent times the Arsenal have been put under close scrutiny by virtue of a number of players, who arguably did not warrant either a lengthy contract and/or a rise in salary, being given new deals. Arsenal misfits Denilson, Nicklas Bendtner, and Sebastian Squillaci (to name but three) were all on the gravy-train at the Emirates (Bendtner still is) and in the end, the club struggled to give the players away, let alone sell them on!
The Verdict
At the risk of being presumptuous, it’s fair to say that in Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal have two players who are far and away at a much higher level performance and ability-wise than the much maligned misfits previously mentioned. In fact, it’s very clear that that the club has adopted a proactive stance in shipping out underperforming players who do very little except take a wage that belies their overall use to the club. Cazorla was voted as Arsenal’s ‘Player of the Season’ for his efforts in the 2012/13 campaign & has weighed in with 16 goals in 61 Premier League appearances.
Aaron Ramsey, a young man who raised hesitant eyebrows from fans and pundits in equal measure ever since his comeback from his horrific potentially career-ending injury at Stoke in February 2010 has played like a man reborn this season. Prior to his injury in December, the Welshman had scored 13 goals in all competitions and looked to be the ever elusive ‘complete midfielder’ that all clubs crave. The sooner Ramsey can get himself fit and back into the Arsenal first-team set-up, the better and it’s a sign of confidence in his ability from Wenger that the player be offered such handsome personal terms in his new long-term deal.
If a player does the business on matchday and shows the hunger and desire required to push his team onto success, then there’s always a reason to push the boat out and reward their efforts. In the cases of the pint-sized Spaniard and the resurgent Ramsey, it looks a positive step from the club to tie the pair to new deals. It could also serve as a benchmark to other players to aspire to. The best players deserve to be paid as such and thankfully the days of Arsenal offering flaky squad-players a small fortune to flatter to deceive is now an area that Arsenal Football Club are making a point of moving away from.
Your Verdict
We regularly pose the same question to our @AFCModiOperandi followers and include some replies in our articles – if you are interested in having your comments in our articles, follow our account and reply to our questions marked with #AFCMO. We asked what you thought about the news of Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey’s new deals at the club.
Kevin Boyd @kevboyders “It’s a great boost for the team going forward, along with the win at Tottenham.”
Keyur @sirkeyur “that is brilliant news with us tying those two. All we need is two brilliant strikers and we should be good for the next yr”
Luke Gilbertson @lukempestar “absolutely fantastic news highlighting the long term ambition to be successful for the forseeable future”
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