Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey Rejected Unai Emery's Advice Before Picking Up Injury

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery has said he advised Aaron Ramsey to rest before he picked up his season-ending injury against Napoli on April 18. 

The Gunners play the last game of their 2018-19 campaign on Wednesday when they face Chelsea in the UEFA Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Ramsey, 28, will be sidelined for the fixture due to the hamstring injury that saw him substituted during Arsenal's Europa League semi-final second leg in Naples, which they won 1-0.

The injury ended Ramsey's season, and in turn his Arsenal career, as the Welshman is joining Juventus on a free transfer this summer.

And Emery has now explained he warned Ramsey about overplaying before he was injured, per James Robson of the Evening Standard:

"Now we can speak about that. Sometimes you cannot play every match with the same players because some players can be a risk for injury. When he was playing against Napoli, he was injured. The Monday before, we played Watford, we won 1-0, and I prefer he didn’t play. I spoke with him. 'Aaron, we are playing a lot of matches now. I think you need to rest one match.'

"[He said]: 'No, no, coach, I want to play, I want to play, I want to play, I want play, it is very important for me, it is very important for the team, I want to play.'

“'OK. Play.' And we won. After, Napoli. 'You OK?' 'Coach, I can, I can, I can.' And this is the process with him I had."

Ramsey's absence against Chelsea could be a big blow given Arsenal need to win in order to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League:

The former Cardiff City man, who joined Arsenal in 2008, is one of the Gunners' most effective midfielders, and without him, Emery's side may lack some control in the middle of the park.

Ramsey is also an attacking threat. He netted four goals and provided six assists in the Premier League in 2018-19, and memorably scored winners for Arsenal in FA Cup finals against Hull City in 2014 and Chelsea in 2017.

That knack for providing goals on the biggest stages could have proved useful for Emery and Arsenal on Wednesday, but they will instead have to rely on the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette to score against the Blues.

They are Arsenal's best attacking weapons, and could be the key men if they are to lift the Europa League trophy on Wednesday:

Chelsea are hardly unbeatable, but they have looked the more consistent of the two sides recently and finished third in the Premier League in 2018-19.

That means they have already qualified for the Champions League, but manager Maurizio Sarri will still be eager to bring home a trophy in his debut season at Stamford Bridge, while Chelsea fans will relish the prospect of preventing their London rivals from qualifying for Europe's elite tournament.