Aaron Ramsey On Track For Championship Debut Second Time Around For Cardiff City
Cardiff City and Swansea City both made final preparations for the start of the Championship season on Saturday.
The Bluebirds were held to a goalless draw at Wycombe Wanderers, while the Swans won 4-0 at Reading.
Now, attention turns to the real deals when Swansea host Birmingham City on Saturday and Cardiff visit relegated Leeds United a day later.
Aaron Ramsey, having returned to his first club at Cardiff, insists he is injury-free and can finally enjoy a smooth ride under their recently appointed Turkish boss, Erol Bulut.
“I feel good again,” said Ramsey, who has averaged 12 league starts per season since he left the Gunners in 2019.
“I kept myself ticking over in the off season and, I’ve been building up the minutes and I’m good to go.
“I still feel I’m capable of producing performances, so for me there was no better time to come back to Cardiff and to help them progress.”
After various injury issues, Ramsey showed he still has the durability to manage to make a combined 44 appearances for French club Nice and Wales last season.
His homecoming to the club he left 15 years ago, means the 32-year-old has managed to get Bluebirds fans all misty-eyed and they quickly sold out their aways fans’ allocation of 2,000 tickets for their opening trip to Leeds United next Sunday.
“Cardiff have had some low points in recent years, but they have also had some highs, like being in the Premier League,” added Ramsey.
“My aim is to help them get back there. I’ve met the new manager and had a few discussions about how he wants me to play, so I’m excited to get going.”
Ramsey played his last match in French football in May and then featured twice for Wales in June – against Armenia and Turkey – so Bulut insists there are not recent questions against his midfielder’s fitness.
“He has not lost any conditioning because he was not long away from the game,” said Bulut.