By Gareth James
Wales skipper Aaron Ramsey has finally returned to boyhood club Cardiff City after penning a two-year deal.
And Ramsey’s oldest son, Sonny, joined him in putting pen to paper by agreeing a letter of intent to join City’s Academy.
The 32-year-old’s return was confirmed just hours after the Championship club announced that striker Karlan Grant had joined on a loan deal from West Brom.
“It feels unbelievable to finally be back here,” said Ramsey. “I always thought one day I’d come back, and now it’s the perfect time to do that.
“To be back with my family and around familiar faces is just brilliant, so I’m delighted to be back here now. I’ve missed that a lot in the last year or so, so it was important for me to be back around them.
“Obviously I’m a Cardiff City fan, and watching them over the years since I’ve been away, we’ve had some low points but some big highs as well, being in the Premier League and representing Cardiff on the big stage.
“That’s a target of mine – to try and help my teammates and this club to get back to the top.
— Aaron Ramsey (@aaronramsey) July 15, 2023
“I’ve said it many times in the past – I owe so much to Cardiff, to the fans, to everybody who has been at the Club when I was here as a young boy coming through.
“For me now to come full circle, to be part of this team now, and hopefully achieve the goals we want, there’s no better feeling than that.”
Ramey became City’s youngest ever player in April 2007 when he made his first team debut aged just 16 years and 123 days – a record that stands to this day.
The academy graduate came off the bench in City’s 1-0 FA Cup Final defeat to Portsmouth in 2008 before joining Arsenal with whom he would lift the trophy three times.
Ramsey also has a loan spell back in Cardiff in February 2011 while he recovered from injury, making six unbeaten appearances.
After Arsenal, Ramsey went on to play for Juventus in Italy and Nice with his return to City confirmed shortly after the French outfit announced his official departure.
Manager Erol Bulut said: “This is, of course, a great day. Aaron started here, and now he is back to help us to achieve our targets.
“First of all I want to thank Tan Sri Vincent Tan for making everything possible. Also, our Chairman, Mehmet Dalman, and Ken Choo. They have worked very hard over the last two or three weeks.
“Aaron has had a great career. In the Premier League, then Italy and France, and now back home in Cardiff. I hope his last years with us will be great too, and I hope we can make our dreams come true.”
They got some good players in Cardiff now, let’s hope they can gel quickly, and hit the ground running.