Wales captain Aaron Ramsey set for medical ahead of return to Cardiff

Phil Blanche

Aaron Ramsey was due to undergo a Cardiff medical on Thursday ahead of completing a return to his boyhood club.

The Wales captain and former Arsenal midfielder is set to turn down a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia to sign for the Bluebirds and play in the Sky Bet Championship.

Ramsey triggered a 12-month extension at Nice after playing a set number of matches for the Ligue 1 outfit last season.

But the 32-year-old has made no secret of his desire to be closer to his Cardiff-based family.

“This season has been a success for me personally, I played a lot of games and some good football,” Ramsey said on international duty last month.

“The most challenging thing is being away from my family. That’s the situation I find myself in.

“I’ve been away from my family and seeing the kids growing up, missing out, it’s always difficult. Difficult for anyone to go through, I imagine.

“Whatever we do going forward, we will be reunited and back together.”

Ramsey became Cardiff’s youngest player in April 2007 at the age of 16 years and 124 days and helped them reach the 2008 FA Cup final.

He signed for Arsenal in a £4.8million deal later that summer and made over 360 appearances for the Gunners, lifting the FA Cup three times during his time in North London and twice scoring final winners.

The 82-times capped Ramsey – who had a brief loan spell back at Cardiff in 2011 – joined Juventus in 2019 and spent the second half of the 2021-22 season at Rangers before moving to Nice last summer.

Nice announced on their website that Ramsey was due to return to pre-season training next week.

But it is understood talks have taken place between Ramsey’s representatives and Nice to smooth his return to the Welsh capital.