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Aaron Ramsey is playing the best football of his career at Arsenal this season, and there could be no more of a fitting goodbye to a club that has continually failed to appreciate his natural talent.
A scapegoat for the fans when things go wrong, Ramsey has reacted in the right way to the continuous criticism that he has faced at the Emirates Stadium, and while former manager Arsene Wenger was a firm believer in his ability, contract decisions over and above the head of the Frenchman eventually engineered Ramsey's departure. He now heads for Juventus in the summer to start a new chapter in his career.
Injury blues
Ramsey needed a long injury-free period to get back to his best, and before his latest recent setback that he has now recovered from, his last injury was almost a year ago. It's no coincidence we have recently seen the best of him, and it's important at this point to explain why injuries affect the midfielder so much.
Back in 2010, when Ramsey was 19 years old and just starting to establish himself in the Arsenal squad, he suffered a broken leg against Stoke City from a tackle by Ryan Shawcross. Psychologically, this left a deep impression on him. Unless he's fully-fit for a long-period, those memories inevitably return, his confidence is affected, which then has a negative effect on his game.
Ironically, now that the Arsenal fans are seeing the best of Ramsey, he's leaving. And who can blame him? One of the positives in Ramsey's Arsenal career was Wenger. The former manager went out of his way to sign him, returning early from a European trip to personally meet with the teenager and discuss his long-term plan for him in the Arsenal side over the course of the next decade.
The belief of Arsene
Wenger showed a real belief in Ramsey and was desperate to take him to Arsenal from Cardiff City. Manchester United also wanted him, but Sir Alex Ferguson didn't even meet with him when he went to Old Trafford for talks, and instead sent Gary Neville to try and sell the club to him.
United thought their name, brand and a tour of Old Trafford would suffice for a starry-eyed teenager. Wenger showed him a lot more respect than that.
So while Ramsey struggled to win over the Arsenal fans, he did maintain a good relationship with Wenger, a man who clearly appreciated his talent at a level the average fan simply wouldn't understand.
Former Wales manager Chris Coleman had a similar opinion of Ramsey, indirectly suggesting on a number of occasions that he was more important to Wales than Gareth Bale in his team.
Without Ramsey, Bale simply didn't function to the best of his ability. Wenger's departure left a void for Ramsey at Arsenal. However, while the club entered into negotiations about a new contract following the arrival of Unai Emery, it was withdrawn as the winds of change began to blow through the Emirates.
Contract stall
With salary expenditure at record levels for the normally prudent club, Ramsey paid the price for the lucrative contracts already handed out to players like Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. In hindsight, and especially in the case of Ozil and the reported figures involved, it appears bad business.
Arsenal simply could not risk laying out another large contact on a player with a history of injuries and a fractious relationship with the fans, and if Emery was going to make an impression at Arsenal, he would need to make changes. That required a change in playing personnel, and money would need to be available to make that happen.
The decision to let Ramsey go was simply a financial sacrifice that previous bad contract decisions had forced upon the club. Ramsey is technically a very good player and has a versatility in his midfield role that would allow him to fit into the majority of tactical systems.
If a manager is worthy of his position at a club like Arsenal, he will find a way of incorporating such a player at his disposal into his plans.
Tactics and systems are very fluid in the modern game, shifting between defence and attack. What managers now have rather than a preferred system is a preferred philosophy. Emery will know how he wants his team to play, regardless of the tactical shape, and that will be his main focus. No system is too rigid to leave out a player as technically good as Ramsey.
A new beginning in Turin
The fans probably won't miss him as they will quickly find another player to blame when things do not go to plan. His key FA Cup final goals dictate that he will always hold a place in Arsenal history, and he will be remembered fondly over time.
His talent at Arsenal was only ever really appreciated by Wenger, and it will be interesting to see how he adapts to the different demands of Serie A.
Solid defensive lines will be difficult for him to find the space he needs to play that final ball through, but his talent is at a level above the majority of players currently playing in the Italian league, and the slower pace of the game will limit his injuries and extend his playing career at the highest level. The best of Ramsey may still be yet to come.
