Ramsey will face boyhood club Aston Villa for the first time since leaving them to join the Magpies in the summer
Jacob Ramsey in action for Newcastle United and Aston Villa (right)(Image: )
It is fair to say that Newcastle United have not quite seen the best of Jacob Ramsey since his £40million move from Aston Villa in the summer.
Ramsey joined the Magpies as one of the club’s six midfield options but he hasn’t quite managed to force his way into the side as a regular starter so far.
After an impressive debut from the bench in United’s defeat to Liverpool in the opening home game of the season, Ramsey picked up an injury in the next game against Leeds which set his progress back.
He missed the entirety of September before returning to action in October and since then he has found himself in and out of the team during his 21 appearances for Newcastle so far.
The 24-year-old has looked tidy on the ball, particularly when facing an aggressive press, and has been useful for bringing some control in midfield in some of Newcastle’s more chaotic matches this season.
But he has struggled in front of goal. Ramsey is yet to register a goal or an assist in a Newcastle shirt and has often looked reluctant to pull the trigger around the 18-yard-box, whether it be taking a shot, a cross or looking for a penetrative pass.
That is what Newcastle want to see more of and it is arguably what they were expecting to sign after he showed those qualities consistently for Aston Villa.
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Ramsey played wide left, as well as midfield, during his time at Villa Park and he played with confidence and on instinct, something we perhaps have not seen from him yet at Newcastle.
“It’s interesting when he was at Villa, because when he was in the team he was really good,” Mat Kendrick, co-host of the Claret and Blue Aston Villa podcast, told Chronicle Live.
“There was a time when Philippe Coutinho signed under Steven Gerrard and in him and Jacob Ramsey, we had a wide boy from Brazil a boy from Birmingham who just seemed to have this real sixth sense understanding between them.
“Ramsey could carry the ball forward and just change the tempo. When he was playing on instinct, he could do things better. When he had too much thinking time, he’s one of those ones who sometimes seemed to score the harder chances than the easy ones, but I think there’s a great player in there.”
Sunday’s Premier League clash between Newcastle and Aston Villa could be the perfect platform to show it as Ramsey will line up against his boyhood club for the first time since his summer transfer.
Ramsey’s sale was sanctioned reluctantly by Villa to ease their PSR situation with the sale of an academy graduate which represented pure profit.
But there was sadness to see ‘one of their own’ leave and while he won’t have the best wishes of Villa fans on Sunday, they are hopeful Newcastle will still see the best of Ramsey at St James’ Park.
“We were gutted, but I think possibly more gutted about losing academy product, one of your own, than the actual impact that he had on our rise,” Kendrick added.
“That’s not to say he wasn’t important, but I think we probably loved him more because he’d gone through that route rather than he was the best player we had ever seen.
“You’ve got to spend your money wisely when you need every penny and someone needs to come in and improve the team straight away. There’s lots of variables why that doesn’t always happen.
“I still think he is a really good player and he will come good at Newcastle.”
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