Arsenal vs Napoli: How talisman Aaron Ramsey is squeezing every last drop out of his time in north London

To any fans who doubted the Welshman, his recent form has been a devastating riposte

There was a time, somewhere amid the numerous contract stand-offs and the covert briefings, the injury setbacks and the indifferent form, when you wondered whether Aaron Ramsey was in the process of torching his Arsenal legacy. Whether the fans would ever quite forgive him for the manner of his protracted exit. Whether, ultimately, Ramsey would be remembered not for his 11 years of faithful service, but as the man who never quite fulfilled his rich talent, and then walked out on the club for free.

And so, Ramsey’s last few weeks in an Arsenal shirt have been their own devastating riposte. Since his move to Juventus was announced in February, he has been quietly exceptional: committed, decisive, talismanic. Always leave well, the business sages say when swapping one employment for another. And since handing in his notice, Ramsey has ensured that if he ever returns to the Emirates, it will be to an uproarious welcome, rather than the sound of jeers and whistles.

His performance on Thursday night against Napoli was simply the latest in the collection. It wasn’t just his opening goal, settling Arsenal nerves and paving the way for a dominant 2-0 victory.

Against one of Europe’s most dynamic passing teams, Ramsey was everywhere: passing, intercepting, tackling, pressing, shooting. Nobody on the pitch took more than his five shots. He had more touches of the ball than anyone apart from Sead Kolasinac, who doesn’t really count, as he generally needs three of them to get the ball under control.

“Awesome,” was Unai Emery’s verdict: a word he doesn’t appear to have used before in public, and thus a testament not only to the benefits of Emery’s Duolingo subscription, but to Ramsey’s unique and spirit-raising brand of excellence. Certainly we got glimpses here of just why Juventus and their sporting director Fabio Paratici were so keen to bring him to Turin: the tireless running, the clever movement, the ever-present goal threat.

Paratici claimed in a recent interview that Ramsey had never really played in his best position: at the tip of a midfield three, where he has cover in behind and can make late runs into the area. As they cement their dominance of Serie A and look to take the final step in the Champions League, Ramsey offers Juventus something they haven’t had since the departures of Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal: a genuine goalscoring midfielder who can be relied on for 10 goals a season, arriving in the nick of time and making the difference against tightly-packed defences.

Ramsey himself has admitted that he has been trying to watch as much of Juventus as possible of late: learning their patterns, studying the rhythms of Italian football. In a way, this game will have been an encouraging experience for him, a winning display against Serie A’s second-best team. But it is his present assignment, you feel, that still preoccupies him.

“I think he wants to do something important with us,” said Emery. “Because I think he feels a lot for the whole club. He gives us more than his all: thinking only in the collective. His focus now is very big, thinking for Arsenal only. I want to enjoy this moment with him.”

Winning Arsenal’s first European trophy in a quarter of a century and leading them back into the Champions League? Now there’s a legacy.

Ramsey was Arsenal’s most influential player against Napoli (Reuters)

Of course, that won’t depend on Ramsey alone. But whatever happens in the remaining twirls of the season, Ramsey has secured his own happy ending. Those embellished rumours of a £400,000-a-week salary at Juventus always felt like a malicious attempt to paint him as a greedy mercenary. But somehow, that cap never quite fitted him. And funny as it may seem for a player who’s been at the club for more than a decade, surfed the immense highs and lows of the Wenger era, scored the winning goal in two FA Cup finals, but the stirring last few weeks perhaps encapsulate Ramsey’s Arsenal career best of all.

There are regrets, of course there are. You wonder if Ramsey would gladly have seen out his career at the Emirates if Arsenal had shown just a little more determination to keep him. You wonder, by the same token, what they might have achieved if Ramsey had managed to sustain his stunning 2013-14 form over subsequent seasons. You wonder above all, how Arsenal will begin to replace him. But the past and the future have a habit of taking care of themselves. And for now, the only real concern for Ramsey and Arsenal will be squeezing every last precious drop out of their time together.