Arsene Wenger has revealed Arsenal transfer chiefs and Aaron Ramsey had a deal in place to keep the Wales international at the Emirates Stadium.
However, the Frenchman claimed the club went back on their offer, which ultimately forced Ramsey to leave for Juventus on a free transfer.
Arsenal were in talks to extend Ramsey’s contract over a long period of time, but the deal never materialised.
Their former boss Wenger admitted that he met with Aaron Ramsey once about renewing his deal, and he was assured the midfielder wanted to stay at Arsenal.
“In the end, I met him once. He wanted to stay at Arsenal,” Wenger said.
“They had an agreement, and the club went back on that, from what I understood.
“I tried a long time to extend his contract, but sometimes you have influences of agents as well.
“Every case is different, and what I know from him, he was keen to stay.”
Ramsey spent 11 years at Arsenal before making the switch to Serie A in July.
He was signed from Cardiff City in a £6million deal in 2008, and subsequently made more than 370 appearances for the Gunners.
But, his time at Juventus has been laboured with a series of injuries, and he’s yet to play a full 90 minutes for the club.
Ramsey was initially left out of the Juve squad over general fitness fears, before missing out with a lower back problem in August.
Just as he was making his way back to full fitness, he picked up a thigh injury that kept him out for half of October.
Wenger thinks Juventus was a good move for Ramsey after leaving Arsenal but insists that the 28-year-old must regularly feature for the side, or risk losing out on his prime years.
“If he plays [it’s a good move],” added Wenger. “You have to win, but as well, when you’re 27/28 you’re in the best years of a football player.
“If you don’t play from 27 to 32, that’s difficult to swallow. You can be patient when you’re 21, 22, 23 – you’re in and out.
“Once you get to 27, you have to play.”
