Cardiff City: Fresh Aaron Ramsey update from Omer Riza confirms his transfer return as a failure | OneFootball

Cardiff City boss Omer Riza has confirmed Aaron Ramsey is still some way off recovering from injury, showing how the move just hasn't gone to plan

Aaron Ramsey's 2023 homecoming to boyhood club Cardiff City bore plenty of promise and reason for excitement, although an all-too-familiar impediment is continuing to rear its ugly head as the veteran midfielder remains stuck on the sidelines.

The 34-year-old, who hails from Caerphilly, rose through the Bluebirds ranks and initiated his senior career with his boyhood club before earning a £4.8 million transfer to Arsenal at the age of 17. The rest is history, as they say.

While the treatment table has never proved too far out of sight, unfortunately, Ramsey nonetheless enjoyed a storied top-level playing career and shone for the Gunners over a number of years, and he's also racked up 86 caps and counting for the Welsh national side - who he now captains.

A combined return of more than 400 appearances for behemoths of the continental club game in Arsenal and Juventus speaks volumes of the pedigree and quality in Ramsey's possession, meaning his long-awaited return to where it all started was met with elation and extreme excitement. Rightly so, too.

However, a year-and-a-half on from Ramsey's emotional homecoming to the Welsh capital from OGC Nice and the move simply hasn't gone according to plan for all parties. His injury record has always proved something of an achilles heel to a career which arguably could have been yet more fruitful in the absence of such a hindrance, and setbacks have only been too common.

After a rich vein of form to get the ball rolling in the right direction in his renaissance, which included three goals from the opening six matches of the 2023/24 campaign, Ramsey was struck down by injury in September and only started once more throughout the remainder of the term - and he's been plagued by setbacks this time around, too.

Omer Riza's Aaron Ramsey, Cardiff City injury update

Ramsey started Cardiff's opening four league matches and largely flattered to deceive, it must be said, as the Bluebirds endured a horrid run of early season form prior to the sacking of Erol Bulut. But while away with Wales on international duty in Montenegro back in September, the midfielder sustained a hamstring injury and hasn't been seen since.

Initially, it was believed Ramsey would only miss a couple of weeks, but he's yet to get back on the pitch in three months, and a return isn't exactly imminent either. Omer Riza, who was recently named as Cardiff's permanent manager following an extensive interim spell, said in the wake of Wednesday's defeat to Preston North End: "Aaron Ramsey is a long way off being ready. He is still rehabbing and he will be ready when he is ready.

"It is important we get him to the point where he's training consistently.

"Then we can look at whether he will play and at what stage he will play. There is no point in me talking now, saying 'I think he will play on this date', because there have been a few reoccurrences, so it would be unfair of me to put pressure on him."

The former Arsenal maestro is one of 13 first-team players currently set to be out of contract at the end of the season and supporters are understandably curious about whether they'll even see Ramsey ever again. He signed a two-year contract to rejoin the club but, considering his injury record and age, there may well be difficult conversations being had in the not-too-distant future.

When quizzed on Ramsey's contract situation, Riza remained tight-lipped and admitted that helping the aging star through yet another recovery process is the immediate priority. He added: "Aaron is not fit at the moment, so the first thing, the focus is to get him fit and for us to help him get fit.

"There is always conversations ongoing with the board, with myself, the players, with contracts and that will continue.

"It's frustrating for me, frustrating for him, frustrating for the club and the fans. But he has had some bad injuries and we have to help him get through them."

Aaron Ramsey's Cardiff City return has been disappointing

As painful as it may be to admit for the City faithful, Ramsey's sensational homecoming simply has to go down as a monumental disappointment for all parties. His track record with injuries was no secret, of course, but there was always the hope that he could keep fitness, having done so at Nice.

Indeed, he's played just 17 times in total since returning in the summer of 2023 and, and barring his strong initial form, you couldn't exactly say that Ramsey has been delivering when he's actually been on the pitch either. Considering the natural hype which surrounded his arrival, there is plenty to be desired from the move.

Of course, it's not Ramsey's fault and he's sure to be frustrated more than anybody else at his continued struggles with injury. Just what that means for the remainder of his career is yet to be seen, but a parting of ways is beginning to appear like the most sensible course of action as far as Cardiff are concerned.