Coquelin injury paves way for Ramsey opportunity

The injury to Arsenal's central midfielder will give the Wales international a chance to stake his claim in the starting XI - and he needs to make sure he takes it.


Aaron Ramsey’s patient approach will finally see him rewarded with a run in the Arsenal side this month after it was revealed that Francis Coquelin has been ruled out for up to four weeks.

There have been many struggles in Ramsey’s young career since he joined the Gunners in 2008, none more so than the horrific leg break at Stoke which he suffered in 2010.


 Arsene Wenger said it took Ramsey three years for his box-to-box man to ‘fully recover’ from the shocking injury, but his latest struggle has been having to contend with a spot on the substitutes' bench this season following the arrival of Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach.

Wenger’s first-choice central midfield partnership appears to be Xhaka and Coquelin, although the Frenchman’s untimely injury has given Ramsey the perfect opportunity to stake his claim for a place in the starting line-up.

The League Cup defeat to Southampton last month saw Ramsey start in the no.10 role where he was one of the more experienced players on show alongside the likes of Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Rob Holding.

Despite being handed a golden opportunity in a match he’d usually expect to thrive in, Ramsey only created one chance in 90 minutes and failed to stamp his mark on the game.