Aaron Ramsey backing former team-mate Mikel Arteta to lead Arsenal to league title

Aaron Ramsey hopes his old Arsenal pal Mikel Arteta can lead his former club to Premier League glory this season.

Ramsey played alongside Arteta for five years in the Arsenal midfield and the Spaniard was the Welshman’s captain for two of those.

The bond between FA Cup winners Ramsey and Arteta runs even deeper as the Gunners boss studied for his coaching badges in Wales, something the two men often spoke about during their time together at the Emirates Stadium.

Arteta has since gone on to work at Manchester City and Arsenal, and his current club hold an eight-point Premier League lead over his old one with City having a game in hand.

“It would be absolutely great (if Arsenal win the league),” said Wales captain Ramsey, who made nearly 370 appearances for the club before leaving north London for Juventus in 2019.

“It is still a massive part of me. I spent 10, 11 years there and for them to go on and win the league, I’m as much a fan as anybody.

“I still know so many players and members of staff there. The fans deserve it.”

Ramsey said he always knew Arteta would step into management after his playing days.

He said: “You could see his leadership qualities and the way that he handled himself was second to none.

“What he is doing now, definitely, you could see he was always going to be a manager one day, the way he thought and saw the game and how intense he was as well.

“It is absolutely unbelievable what he has done there, what they are doing at the moment.

“We used to talk about it (the FAW) and he would tell me how impressed he was with the Welsh set-up, their methods and the way that they go about things.

“They have done a fantastic job in producing some top managers and a lot of people are coming through that programme at the moment.”

Proud

Ramsey has taken over the Wales armband following Gareth Bale’s retirement and was left “proud” by the team’s performance in their 1-1 draw against World Cup semi-finalists Croatia in Split on Saturday.

Latvia are the opponents for Wales’ second game in Euro 2024 qualifying in Cardiff on Tuesday – and Ramsey will be accompanied on to the pitch by his seven-year-old son Sonny.

He added: “I said he was going to be really excited (about me being captain) and he has been.

“He was captain for his local team on Saturday as well, so that made it a bit more special. He will be coming out with me before the game.

“It was important to get a point on the board in Croatia and get some momentum.

“Now we need to take care of our home games, which we have done well in previous campaigns.”