Aaron Ramsey sets his sights on Arsenal captaincy
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey says he is already one of the leaders in Arsene Wenger's squad
Aaron Ramsey has set his sights on becoming permanent Arsenal captain in the future.
The Wales international skippered the Gunners for the first time against Boreham Wood in a pre-season friendly earlier this summer.
I’ve had experience of doing it with my country, it would be nice to do that [for Arsenal] one day
Aaron Ramsey
Ramsey captained his national side during Gary Speed’s spell in charge of Wales before he was stripped of the armband by Chris Coleman.
Speaking to ESPN, the 24-year-old spoke of his ambition to become Arsenal captain after developing into one of the squad’s leaders.
“I’ve made a load of appearances now, I definitely feel one of the leaders, but I feel this group of players all have their own leadership skills.
“It was nice to be given the armband, even though it was just a preseason friendly, but it’s something I would like to do one day, to be captain.
“It’s a great honour and achievement to do that, I’ve had experience of doing it with my country, it would be nice to do that [for Arsenal] one day.”
On leading his country in the future following Coleman’s decision to give the role to Swansea City defender Ashley Williams, Ramsey added:
“Gary Speed made me captain [and] we shot up the world rankings, we were playing some good stuff, everything was going well. Then certain things happened, and it was a tough time for all of us. It went downhill a bit from there, there were a couple of bad results, and there was a lot of pressure on us all. That was what Chris [Coleman] decided to do.
“It felt like he didn’t want to put any more pressure on me, and he wanted to give it to Ashley Williams. That was his decision, I respect it and I certainly don’t hold that against him now, because there’s no point. It was definitely a disappointment but hopefully one day I can get it back.”
Ramsey, who could feature against Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday afternoon, scored six goals in 29 Premier League appearances for the Gunners last season.
The Welsh midfielder moved to Arsenal in a £4.8m deal from Cardiff City in 2008.
More: Ramsey can’t wait for the new season to start
Ramsey has won two FA Cups and the Community Shield during his seven-year stay at The Emirates.
