Claims that Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey has rejected a summer move to Newcastle United are ‘total nonsense’, according to the Chronicle.
Ramsey has seen his future in Turin cast into doubt after a bit-part debut season with the Serie A giants, having made just 14 starts across all competitions under the now-departed head coach Maurizio Sarri.
It was suggested the Wales international could be offloaded following the arrival of Andrea Pirlo to succeed Sarri at the helm, as the Italian icon sought a clear out of the congested engine room with the departures of Sami Khedira and Blaise Matuidi.
Ramsey only moved to Turin last summer following his release by Arsenal and signed a staggering four-year contract worth in excess of £400,000-per-week at the Allianz Stadium, but struggled to staple his importance amid sporadic injuries.
The 29-year-old faced spells on the sidelines last season nursing adductor problems, a stress response of the bone and lumbago, and managed to play just 252 of a possible 1,080 minutes of league action once the 2019/20 campaign resumed.
Talk of a move to Newcastle United has been rubbished, however, with sources close to the 60-cap star telling the Chronicle that it was ‘total nonsense’ Ramsey had rejected the chance to join Steve Bruce’s Toon ahead of the new season.
The sources allegedly added that they had ‘no idea’ where the reports, which originated from journalist Nicolo Schira, came from.
Schira had suggested that Newcastle staff had approached Ramsey and Juventus earlier in the month to offer the midfielder an escape route back to the Premier League, but were met with a firm no from the three-time FA Cup winner.
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There is no doubt that Ramsey would have been a dream signing ahead of the new campaign, had the rumours been true, as the Wales international would have offered a vastly gifted player to make the late runs into the box from midfield and drive possession from our own territory.
But the likelihood of ever agreeing personal terms and a transfer fee would more likely than not have been extremely challenging, as Juventus would surely have sought to secure a hefty amount of compensation for the in excess of £27million spent on Ramsey in the past year.
Bruce and Managing Director Lee Charnley will hopefully have more realistic targets in mind as we edge ever nearer to the new season kicking off, having thus far only made free transfers for ex-Motherwell goalkeeper Mark Gillespie and Burnley midfielder Jeff Hendrick.