Report: Aaron Ramsey to Leave Arsenal on Free Transfer After Meeting with Club

Aaron Ramsey won't be an Arsenal player next season after the midfielder was told he won't be offered a new contract. The Gunners broke the news to the Wales international during a meeting on Wednesday, according to Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports News.

Ramsey is out of contract next summer and will be free to negotiate with foreign clubs in January.

The 27-year-old joined Arsenal from Cardiff City in 2008. Ramsey has won three FA Cups, scoring the game-winning goals to beat Hull City in the 2014 final and Chelsea three years later.

Those are the signature moments of a career in north London not without its struggles. Ramsey suffered a broken leg after a challenge from Stoke City centre-back Ryan Shawcross in 2010, a cruel blow that curtailed his development just when he was becoming part of the starting XI.

Uneven performances and a difficulty winning over sections of Arsenal's support followed Ramsey's lengthy recovery. However, he eventually delivered on his initial promise to produce superb seasons in 2013/14 and 2017/18.

Ramsey's future has been an issue for weeks, with reports in September that the Gunners had withdrawn a four-year contract proposal. The playmaker recently expressed his confusion over the development, per the Guardian's Amy Lawrence: "We all know that the contract was taken away off the table. I'm not sure exactly why because a few weeks before we sort of agreed and I was ready to sign."

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Ramsey's uncertainty about Arsenal's decision-making is understandable since head coach Unai Emery indicated the midfielder would be key to his plans after replacing Arsene Wenger this summer.

The disparity between Emery's early wishes and how Arsenal have since proceeded in negotiations raises questions about how the club is being run in the post-Wenger era.

For one thing, the Gunners have surely lost out on a considerable transfer fee by not agreeing to sell Ramsey during the summer:

Since then, Ramsey has been inconsistent playing as a No. 10 while Emery has regularly rotated the players supporting his main striker. Arsenal, who are fourth in the Premier League table, do have Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan who are more suited to playing off the front men.

Even so, the Gunners will surely miss Ramsey's energy, box-to-box runs and eye for goal from the middle.

More to the point, the club's structure sans Wenger leaves Emery to focus on team affairs while executives like Raul Sanllehi and Huss Fahmy to handle contracts. The surprise resolution to Ramsey's saga makes it easy to wonder if every decision made is what Emery wants.