Just Arsenal News

The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger seems to think that Aaron Ramsey is ready to join his first team squad, and has told him he will play 15-20 full games this season, but Armand Traore still needs to work for his place.

Traore played 20 times for Portsmouth last season and has matured but obviously not quite enough for Wenger, despite being two years older than Ramsey.

“I’ve talked with the boss,” said Traore. “He says I need to work hard and be patient and that’s what I’m going to do.

“I played a good amount of first-team games at Portsmouth. I think I’ve learnt a lot and have improved.

“But I will need to work on my positioning defensively because there’s a lot of stuff I can improve on.

“I need to start using my right foot if the boss wants me to play left-midfield. [I will have to] learn how to go inside and dribble with my right foot.”

Whereas Ramsey’s chats with Wenger has seen him promised many first team starts this season, which shows that the French coach believes he is ready to step up.

“The manager has set me a target of 15 to 20 starts this season.” said Ramsey.”We have little chats about my game, one-to-one, and he does show a lot of interest in what I do.

“There is no question he looks after the youngsters like that, he has brought through so many young players. He has given them opportunities, developed them, and turned them into great players. I hope he can do that with me.

“He doesn’t shout at you, he is relaxed and tells you ways that you can improve. He is also very quick to praise if you do something very well in a game.

“Like if you make an assist instead of trying to shoot yourself, then he will tell you how great you are, but he will always tell you the negatives too.

“He has a great influence on me, you must listen to what he says and learn.”

The 18 year-old certainly seems to be strong enough and mature beyond his years. He is a guaranteed Arsenal star of the future.