Aaron Ramsey has previously explained why he rejected Manchester United for Arsenal as a teenager.

Everton also wanted the 17-year-old midfielder after breaking through at his boyhood club, Cardiff City. Dave Jones gave Ramsey his first taste of Championship football with the Bluebirds during the closing stages of a 1-0 loss to Hull City in April 2007. His debut made him the youngest player to represent the club, surpassing the record held by John Toshack.

After making 22 further appearances for Cardiff, Ramsey caught the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes and Arsene Wenger. Despite stiff competition, Arsenal secured the teenager’s signature after agreeing to a £5million deal with the Welsh club.

At that time, United were fresh from winning the Champions League and the Premier League with a team featuring Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Ramsey acknowledged that his father was a fan of the Reds.

Even with the allure of a successful team and his father’s allegiance, Ferguson failed to sign the Welshman. Reflecting on the experience, Ramsey said: “I was always a Cardiff supporter, but my dad was a Manchester United fan, and I watched them quite a lot with him.”

“It was a strange time in my life, to have two teams I’d watched so much as a child showing interest in me. I spoke to both managers on the phone a few times. I was 17 years old and getting voicemails from Fergie and Arsene Wenger! It was mad.”

Ramsey explained: “Arsenal felt like the right decision for me. I remember showing up to training on my first day and seeing Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas… I had to pinch myself. I was like, ‘What on Earth am I doing here? ‘ It was an exciting time for me.”

In an interview with Sky Sports in January 2020, he expressed no regrets about choosing Arsenal over United. Ramsey explained: “I had some tough decisions to make, but I felt that Arsene and Arsenal made a big effort to get me to join them.”

“They took me and my family to Switzerland, where he was covering the Euros at the time. I met him there and his plan and his vision of developing me into the player he saw was quite exciting to take up.

“There are no regrets from my side. [Wenger] has a track record of bringing through young players and turning them into great players.”

Ramsey continued: “That was what was important for me, that I went straight into the first-team environment and was given an opportunity early on to show what I could do, even at that age. I had opportunities when I went there. I played and trained every day with the first team, so for me, it was the right decision.”