Now that it’s over we can officially say that Aaron Ramsey’s move from Juventus was not the unmitigated success that we hoped it would be when he arrived in January – in fact, we can say that he has been a waste of money, regardless of how much was spent.
Yes, we’ve seen flashes of what he can do but, since he’s been here, he has been missing for almost all of our big results or only came on for the closing stages. Instead of being the catalyst that drove us to success, he has been a passenger watching on whilst others took on the responsibility.
Rangers fans will now debate whether or not he is worth a punt in the summer, his ability has never been in doubt but his ability to stay fit appears to be depreciating with age, the return of Ianis Hagi and emergence of Alex Lowry also means that there simply isn’t the same positional need to sign him on what would be a big percentage of our weekly wage.
Writing on his Instagram account, the 31-year old thanked fans for their support, his reception on Saturday at Hampden after missing the decisive penalty in Seville obviously meant a lot to him:
“To the blue sea of Ibrox- I want to thank you all for your overwhelming support through the highs and lows. You are some of the most passionate fans I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and playing for. Once a Ranger always a Ranger.”
I’ll never blame a player for missing a penalty – unless they really deserve it – he took the pressure, made a decent enough strike but the keeper didn’t commit far enough to one side to get away with it, this isn’t why I don’t want to see him back after the summer, it’s that we simply don’t need him.