Aston Villa have reportedly reached an agreement with Burnley over the sale of Aaron Ramsey in a deal said to be worth £14m plus add-ons.
The 20-year-old impressed coming through our youth ranks, playing a key role in our FA Youth Cup success in 2021, before enjoying productive loan spells at Norwich City and Middlesbrough.
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Ramsey bagged five goals and an assist in 11 appearances for ‘Boro last season in their promotion push, and that in turn saw him included in Unai Emery’s initial plans in pre-season as he featured in our first two games.
While injury eventually cut short his involvement, speculation has been rife over his future in recent days, and it now appears as though he’s set to move on this summer.
According to The Athletic, Villa and Burnley have now reached a verbal agreement for the sale of Ramsey, with the deal expected to be worth £14m plus add-ons, while it’s noted that there is likely to be a buy-back clause included.
Further, personal terms are agreed and a medical is scheduled, and so it appears as though it is simply now a matter of time before he completes his move to Turf Moor.
It’s an important financial boost for Villa given it’s pure profit on a youth product, and so the benefits of a sale are clear in terms of FFP and balancing our books this summer, particularly if Ramsey isn’t part of Emery’s immediate plans.
Naturally, there is a feeling of disappointment too given the hope that he would join his brother in making a breakthrough in the first-team to play an important role for us, but that doesn’t appear likely in the near future.
However, it’s crucial that we’ve inserted a buy-back clause, as ultimately if Ramsey does impress for Vincent Kompany’s side and proves himself in the Premier League, we’ll hopefully have a reasonable fee to pay to bring him back and be part of our longer-term plans.
Time will tell how the situation plays out, but it appears as though Ramsey will now be moving on, and that may mean our work in the transfer market in terms of incomings isn’t over yet either.