Jacob Ramsey 'nasty' Newcastle United truth as £39m former Aston Villa star limited to one league start
Jacob Ramsey has started just one Premier League match for Newcastle United since his £39million move from Aston Villa.
Newcastle United midfielder Jacob Ramsey has had a limited impact since his £39million move from Aston Villa.
The 24-year-old’s only Premier League start for the club so far came back in August at Leeds United and saw him forced off with an ankle injury at half-time.
Ramsey has since started a Champions League match against Benfica and Carabao Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur but has otherwise been limited to substitute appearances.
Speaking to the Gazette last month, Eddie Howe revealed what Ramsey would have to do to turn substitute appearances into regular starts for his new club.
“I think Jacob is doing well, I think he's in a good place,” Howe responded.
“I think he'll have benefited from the couple of outings he's had recently. The big thing for him at the moment is being physically at his best. If he is, then his technical qualities will shine.”
But since those comments, Howe has handed opportunities to Joe Willock and Lewis Miley while Ramsey has remained on the bench - raising further questions over the midfielder’s role in the squad.
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Eddie Howe explains Jacob Ramsey’s lack of NUFC opportunities
Newcastle United return to action on Saturday when they host Burnley at St James’ Park in the Premier League. With a trip to Bayer Leverkusen to follow in the Champions League in midweek before the Tyne-Wear derby at Sunderland to come, Howe could be tempted to rotate his squad.
With that, Ramsey could be handed an opportunity to come back into the side.
But when asked why Ramsey hasn’t featured as much as his fellow midfielders, Howe explained: “He's doing really well, JJ. We're building him up physically, getting him to understand fully how we play.
“I've been very pleased with him actually. He's a very, very good footballer and I think we'll all see that very soon. Very composed, very rarely gives the ball away, but he's creative as well.
“So he had a nasty ankle injury at Leeds and when he came back, it was a case of, you could see he was a little bit short on fitness of where he needed to be to execute what we want him to.
“But he's getting there and he's in a lot better place now.”
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Aston Villa chief comments on Jacob Ramsey transfer
Ramsey’s move to Tyneside was felt hard in the Midlands, as Villa became the latest in a long line of clubs to sell one of their academy stars just to satisfy financial rules. Villa’s director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, admitted to BBC Radio WM that he was ‘very sad’ to see Ramsey leave the club during the summer, but admitted that his sale was necessary to risk not losing him on a free transfer amid frustrating contract negotiations.
Vidagany said “It was very sad that Jacob departed because Jacob represented the dream of every Birmingham neighbourhood. But there are two things.
“We sold Jacob Ramsey because it was a great offer from Newcastle. Second thing was Jacob Ramsey finishing his contract in 2027. And we didn’t get any agreement to extend the contract.
“For one year, we tried. But what is true, when a player is not extending, you have two ways. Let him terminate the contract and finish it and go for free or for lower money.
“Or, if you don’t extend him, sell him at the best price. We didn’t get an agreement, so sometimes when it happens that we can not get an agreement, the best deal is to sell at the best price.”