It has been revealed that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has ruled out Aaron Ramsey playing a defensive midfield role.
The Wales international midfielder has recovered from injury and comes back into an Arsenal squad shorn of defensive midfielders Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta.
“Ramsey is more an offensive player,” said Wenger.
“I will use him sometimes there [centrally] when the game demands, but is he naturally with Cazorla a balanced pair? Defensively, certainly, it’s a very adventurous one!
“I used Ramsey on the right because he gives us a balance, because we have Ozil who is an offensive player, we have Sanchez, we have Giroud or Walcott and Cazorla so to balance a bit defensively, I use Ramsey on the right. That’s where I will certainly continue to use him.
“He is not afraid to tackle but he likes to go in the box and he has a good timing of runs and he wants the ball and he wants to go forward. If you take that out of him, and you say ‘look, you have to sit now, and sit there and wait,’ you kill his strengths.
“He [Ramsey] can do [the deeper role],” added Wenger. “It is not that he cannot do it, but he can do it [more effectively] with Coquelin. Cazorla can [play alongside] Coquelin.”