Aaron James Ramsey (born 26 December 1990) is a Welsh professional football manager and former player who is head coach of EFL League One club Oxford United. He mainly played as a box-to-box midfielder, but had also been deployed on the left and right wings.
Ramsey played as a schoolboy for Cardiff City, where he spent eight years in youth football, became the club's youngest ever first team player, and made 28 appearances (including loan spell) for the senior team – including the 2008 FA Cup final. Ramsey moved to Arsenal in 2008 in a £5 million deal, where he quickly gained first-team experience. However, his career stalled significantly after he suffered a broken leg in a match against Stoke City in February 2010. After two loan spells away from Arsenal, he returned to full fitness and re-established himself as a regular starter during the 2011–12 season. Ramsey was a key player for Arsenal in the 2013–14 campaign, scoring 16 goals in all competitions, including the winner in the 2014 FA Cup final against Hull City. He also played in the 2015 FA Cup final, which Arsenal won, and scored a second FA Cup-winning goal in 2017. In 2019, he joined Juventus, winning the league title during his first season. He later played for Rangers, Nice, Cardiff City (including a brief stint as caretaker manager), before ultimately ending his career at UNAM.
Ramsey made his full international debut for the Wales national team in 2008 and was part of their UEFA Euro 2016 campaign, where he helped his country to the semi-finals and was included in the Team of the Tournament. He was instrumental in securing qualification for Euro 2020, the country's second successive European tournament, where Wales were eliminated in the round of 16. Ramsey was also a member of the squad that qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first Wales team to qualify for a World Cup since 1958, which he described as a "dream come true". He was captain of the national team from 2011 to 2012, and again from 2023 to 2024. He also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
As a child, Ramsey attended Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni (Rhymney Valley Comprehensive School) in Caerphilly County Borough. Ramsey's first introduction to football was at the age of nine, when he attended an Urdd training session at Caerphilly. Before turning to football, he was a keen rugby player and athlete. As a schoolboy, he played as a winger for Caerphilly RFC's youth development programme, where he was approached by scouts from rugby league side St. Helens after playing in a youth match against them, but had already been signed by Cardiff City's youth academy. Ramsey was Welsh Schools' Athletic Association pentathlon champion in 2005 and was ranked 4th in Great Britain in the under 17 age group in 2006.
He lived with his parents, Marlene and Kevin, and his brother, Josh, until moving to London where he was housemates with former Cardiff City teammate, Chris Gunter, who was then playing for Tottenham Hotspur. Ramsey is a fluent Welsh language speaker.
After impressing in an Urdd tournament as a youngster he signed for Cardiff City, who fended off competition from Newcastle United, as a schoolboy at the age of eight, working his way through the club's youth system. After a few more years he eventually made his debut in the last home game of the 2006–07 Championship season, coming on to replace Paul Parry in the final minute of the 1–0 defeat to Hull City on 28 April 2007. In doing so, Ramsey became the youngest player to ever play for Cardiff City, aged just 16 years and 124 days, beating the previous record holder John Toshack. In June 2007, Cardiff turned down a bid of over £1 million for Ramsey from a London-based Premier League club. The club was not named, but it was widely believed that they continued to watch Ramsey at every available opportunity during the 2007–08 season. Cardiff also turned down a £1 million offer, although the deal was to start with a payment of £200,000 and rise depending on his future achievements, from Everton.
Ramsey made his first league appearance of the 2007–08 season on 6 October, when he came on as a late substitute for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the 2–1 home win over Burnley. Ramsey signed his first professional contract in December 2007 and went on to make his first full professional start for Cardiff on 5 January in the FA Cup against Chasetown replacing the suspended Stephen McPhail. An impressive performance from Ramsey saw him head in the second Cardiff goal as they went on to win 3–1. Due to his performance against Chasetown, Ramsey was nominated for the Player of the Round award, eventually losing out to Coventry City's Michael Mifsud. On 26 April, he scored his first league goal in a 3–3 draw against Burnley. He went on to make his first career league start three weeks later in a 3–1 win over Queens Park Rangers and began to establish himself in the first team, making several more starts in the Cardiff side. He made a total of 22 appearances during the season, his first full season of professional football, and played in five of the club's six FA Cup matches, including the final, becoming the second youngest player to play in an FA Cup final after Curtis Weston, who played in the 2004 FA Cup final for Millwall.
Following Ramsey's impressive performance in the 2–1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Middlesbrough it was revealed that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had talked to Cardiff manager Dave Jones to inquire about Ramsey, who were later joined by Arsenal and Everton in following his progress. Ramsey in fact grew up a Manchester United fan, but in the end he decided not to join them. Cardiff chairman Peter Ridsdale told the BBC that Arsenal's bid of £5 million up front had been accepted. Arsenal's bid did not include a loan clause that would allow Ramsey to stay at Cardiff for another season. Cardiff assistant manager and former Arsenal player and coach Terry Burton, who was credited for having brought through Ramsey, also helped recommend him to Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, having retained a longstanding connection to the club. During the transfer negotiations, Burton also advised that Ramsey join Arsenal, citing the similarity between the player and the club's overall style of play.
On 10 June 2008, it was confirmed that after meeting officials from Arsenal, Everton and Manchester United, Ramsey had decided to join Arsenal, who paid Cardiff City a total of £4.8 million for the player. The move was completed on 13 June 2008 on what was said to be a long-term contract. The main reason he chose Arsenal ahead of the other clubs that pursued his signature was the approach of Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who flew him and his family to Switzerland to talk about the plans Wenger had for him and his potential future with Arsenal. Wenger described Ramsey as "a player with a fantastic engine, good build, good technique and good vision".
Ramsey made his competitive debut for Arsenal in the Champions League third qualifying round against FC Twente on 13 August 2008 and his league debut a month later against Blackburn Rovers on 13 September 2008, marking it with an assist to Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal's fourth and Adebayor's third. On 23 September 2008 he completed 90 minutes in Arsenal's third round League Cup game against Sheffield United which Arsenal won 6–0, when he added two more assists to his season's tally, setting up Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela. He scored his first goal for the club in their 5–2 victory away against Fenerbahçe in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League by shooting a long-range shot which hit the post and went in, becoming the fifth youngest scorer in Champions League history, and only the second player born in the 1990s to score a Champions League goal. Ramsey was named amongst a host of young players poised to shine in 2009 by Fifa.com. On 1 July 2009, he signed a new long-term contract at Arsenal.
On 22 August 2009, Ramsey scored his first league goal in a one-on-one against goalkeeper David James as Arsenal beat Portsmouth 4–1 at Emirates Stadium and then set up Andrey Arshavin in a 3–1 home win over Celtic in the Champions League play-offs. In the League Cup fourth round win against Liverpool, on 28 October, he produced an impressive performance and set up Nicklas Bendtner earning himself the man of the match award.