The summer of 2008 will almost certainly not be remembered as ‘The Hunt for Aaron Ramsey’, but it did leave Manchester United with egg on their face, after reporting on their official site that they had agreed a fee for the Cardiff City midfielder, only for Arsenal to do exactly the same and promptly sign the starlet. The Press Association reports that Ramsey is delighted to have joined Arsenal and is genuinely excited about what the future holds (bench-warming here I come!).

“Arsenal is a club which always gives young players an opportunity at the highest level of the game and I am going to work my hardest to be part of future successes here,” said Ramsey, whose £5million move was formally completed on Friday.

“I recently met with Arsene Wenger and he was a big factor in my decision to join Arsenal,” added Ramsey. “He talked to me for a long time about the club and the plans for the future, which really excites me.”

It’s clear that Gunners wanted to capture this player just that little bit more than their rivals and, when you have a wage structure which can’t always compete with the very biggest clubs, it’s all about working that extra bit hard to sign these sort of players. How many times will we see him turn out for the first team next season?