Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has already previously addressed his views on the abilities of midfielder Jacob Ramsey and how he desires for the midfielder to remain at the club. Academy product Ramsey has been extensively linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur this summer window, with Argentine Giovanni Lo Celso touted as a player who might head in the opposite direction.
Ramsey, 23, is a Villa academy product who has been in and around the Villa first-team environment since the days of Dean Smith. He, like many of his teammates, have continued to elevate their performance levels since Emery arrived at the club in the autumn of 2022, that being despite his various injury issues - which continue to dog him even now.
Well known to Spurs' technical director Johan Lange, who worked previously at Villa with Smith and then Steven Gerrard, Ramsey endured a difficult campaign last year, one which was bookended by injuries; having returned from helping England under 21s to win the Euros last summer with a broken metatarsal, he didn't feature until the end of September.
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Ramsey then missed the end of the campaign with another foot problem, not featuring again after early March, and he hasn't yet been seen in Villa's pre-season preparations this summer, either. The links with Spurs, though, haven't gone away, but Emery - who was faced with questions about Ramsey's future in January - addressed the links back then, explaining how he understood why there'd be an interest in such a talent but that he hoped Ramsey would remain.
“Jacob Ramsey is a very important player,” said Emery back in January. “He grew up here in the academy. His progression is clear and getting better. I want to keep him here with us. Teams maybe involved in the possibility to sign him, because he is a potentially big, big player in Aston Villa and England. I want to keep him here 100%."
Villa are close to signing Amadou Onana from Everton, which will be one of the most expensive deals in the club's history. Douglas Luiz has left and Boubacar Kamara is to miss the start of the season with a knee injury, but Emery still has Ramsey, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and new signings Ross Barkley and Enzo Barrenechea to call on in that department.