Manchester United officially confirmed my transfer but I joined Arsenal 10 days later after call

Aaron Ramsey has previously revealed he snubbed Manchester United to join Arsenal. The 33-year-old midfielder was once one of the most coveted teenagers in Europe after bursting onto the scene at Cardiff City.

Dave Jones handed Ramsey his Championship debut for the Welsh outfit towards the end of a 1-0 defeat to Hull City in April 2007. He became the youngest player to ever play for the club, breaking John Toshack's long-standing record.

Ramsey went on to play 22 more times for Cardiff City before he started receiving calls from Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Against all the odds, Arsenal won the race for his signature, signing the then 17-year-old from the Bluebirds in a deal worth £5m.

At the time, Manchester United had just been crowned champions of Europe as well as Premier League winners with a young and exciting team built around Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. In an interview with FourFourTwo, Ramsey also revealed that his father was a Red Devils supporter.

Despite tough competition and family influence, Wenger still managed to sign the Welshman. 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 I was getting voicemails from Fergie and Arsene Wenger! It was mad."

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The former Arsenal midfielder added: "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."

Then, speaking to Sky Sports in January 2020, Ramsey insisted that doesn't regret snubbing United for Arsenal. He said: "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. He has a track record of bringing through young players and turning them into great players."

Ramsey added: "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."

Ramsey left Arsenal in July 2019, ending an 11-year stay at the Emirates Stadium, to join Juventus. Now, he's back at Cardiff City, trying to help his boyhood club stay in the Championship.

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