Arsene Wenger Praises Aaron Ramsey's Maturity and Touts Him as a Future Arsenal Captain

Arsene Wenger has claimed Aaron Ramsey could one day become captain of Arsenal, because of his increasing maturity.

The Welshman has endured his fair share of injuries during his time at the Emirates, but is now the second-longest serving star in the dressing room behind Theo Walcott, having been at the club since 2008 after joining from Cardiff City for just £4.8m.

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The 26-year-old still, however, finds himself behind the likes of Per Mertesacker, Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny in the captain's pecking order, but manager Wenger thinks his time will eventually come.

He said via the Independent: "Why not? It is all there. He has maturity, has improved technically and is more conscious of the importance of his technical qualities. His game is clean. He has a huge physical power. The target for him will be to have 30 games."

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Wenger was speaking at his press conference ahead of the club's Monday night game with West Brom, and he also fielded questions about Ramsey and Danny Welbeck's contract situations.

The Gunners' summer was marred by the fact that Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez were being allowed to enter the final years in their contracts, and the Frenchman said: "It is something we want to address. Both of them are in a good moment for us.

"But with the level of transfers and the amounts that players expect on their contracts, you will have more and more players going into the final year of their contracts. You will be in a position where you either extend for money you cannot afford or you go into the final year of their contract."