Manchester United and Arsenal have been two of English footballs biggest rivals for a long time.
The Red Devils and the Gunners have had some famous battles on the pitch over the years, but they’ve also had some famous battles in the transfer market too.
Indeed, Arsenal and United often go for the same players, and they’ve had their fair share of transfer wars.
Arsenal wanted Cristiano Ronaldo before he signed for United, while Manchester United beat Arsenal to the signing of Lisandro Martinez a few years ago.
Meanwhile, even right now, Arsenal want to beat United to the signing of Sverre Nypan.
Nypan isn’t the first young midfielder Arsenal and United have both gone after.
Indeed, back in 2008, both teams were in for Aaron Ramsey, and speaking on Premier League Stories, the player himself has been discussing that move.
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Aaron Ramsey joined Arsenal over Manchester United
Ramsey spoke about joining Arsenal in 2008.
The midfielder says that he had messages left on his phone from Alex Ferguson around that time, while he even went to David Moyes’ house to speak about joining Everton.
Ultimately though, Ramsey says that Arsenal went above and beyond to get this deal done.
“Towards the end of that season I had a few clubs sniffing around. I had messages left on my phone from Sir Alex Ferguson. I went to David Moyes’ house at the time. I jetted off to Switzerland to see Arsene Wenger because he was doing the Euros press at the time.
“It was a surreal moment, I felt really wanted by Arsenal, they went above and beyond, it was crazy, a few weeks before I was at Cardiff and then I was playing amongst some of the best players in football.”
Aaron Ramsey record vs Manchester United
Ramsey ultimately opted to join Arsenal ahead of Manchester United, and he may well have questioned that move at certain points in his career.
Patrick Vieira described Ramsey as ‘terrific’ during his time at Arsenal.
Indeed, while Ramsey did with the FA Cup three times with Arsenal, he would’ve been a multi-time Premier League champion had he joined United.
On top of that, Ramsey didn’t always have the best of luck when he played against United over the years, losing more often than he won against the Red Devils.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Ramsey record vs Manchester United | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 |
Ramsey did score a goal against United in his career, the winning goal in a 1-0 win back in 2011 after returning from injury – an injury that almost ended Ramsey’s career.
Ramsey picked Arsenal over United, but perhaps he may have been better off going to the Red Devils at that point in his career.
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