Wales captain Aaron Ramsey is close to completing a sensational return to his boyhood club Cardiff City.
The ex-Arsenal midfielder, 32, completed a medical with the Championship club on Thursday.
Cardiff are waiting on Nice to confirm the player’s departure from the French club, allowing them to sign Ramsey on a free transfer.
He had attracted interest from other clubs but is eager to move home to south Wales with his family.
Ramsey’s arrival would represent a significant signing for Cardiff and a major boost for new manager Erol Bulut, who has been keen to bring the player back to the club where his career began as a teenager.
Capped 82 times by his country, Ramsey came through the ranks at Cardiff in 2007 before joining Arsenal in 2008. He returned briefly to the Welsh capital in 2011 as he recovered from a broken leg.
Ramsey made more than 250 appearances for Arsenal, winning the FA Cup three times, before moving to Juventus on a free transfer in 2019.
He was at Nice last season following a disappointing time in Italy, but has previously stated family considerations would be key to his next move.
Ramsey told BBC Wales last month: “For sure one day I would love to go back there [Cardiff City].
“It’s where I grew up and them giving me that opportunity and platform to go on to what I have achieved so far in my career, I will forever be grateful.
“The most important thing for me is to enjoy my time off now with my family and to make the right decision going forward for us.”
Cardiff are currently under an EFL transfer embargo after they defaulted on the initial payment of the £15m transfer fee for the late Emiliano Sala.
However under the embargo, which was recently reduced to January 2024, he club is still permitted to sign players on free transfers.
Former Cardiff and Wales striker Nathan Blake says Ramsey’s return to the Bluebirds would be “a good move” for the player.
“Two or three years ago I was a big advocate. I thought it would be a great opportunity for Aaron to come back,” Blake told BBC Radio Wales Sport’s Friday night programme.
“I thought if the owners are serious about building a team and having some sort of legacy at the club then which meant something, I thought you would try and bring him back, I think it was when he left Juventus and then start to try and build a team around him and show your intent to other clubs in the Championship and show that you’re serious and you’re going to go for it and sign Premier League quality players.”
Blake added: “As we’re all aware his legs are not as they were two or three years ago, but when you’ve got that level of quality and ability you’re able to adapt – I look at someone like Steven Gerrard who was arguably the best midfielder of our generation and I watched him slowly retreating to that quarter-back role and just become a fantastic passer; Paul Scholes another one, so it can be done as long as he’s willing to adapt, which I would’ve thought would be the case, then I think it’s a good thing.
“Rambo did have the highest running stats of any Welsh player in the World Cup – it was just that we were so disjointed, so ill-disciplined as a team so he obviously still covers the ground and run, not like he used to.
“But he was so far ahead in those endurance stakes that even when you make up 25% off, he’s still going to be top of the tree or around the top of the tree.
“Age obviously is a big thing, but I’d stay if Cardiff can get two or three years out of him playing in a reserved role – he’s more than capable of playing in the Championship, that goes without saying.
“He’s a great player under the circumstances. You wouldn’t have thought under the embargo that Cardiff would ever be signing that calibre of player. For me it’s quite a shrewd move.
“For the manager now, it’s about making sure you get the best out of him and that’s about seeing him every day in training, what he’s capable of because the Championship shouldn’t be sniffed at – it’s the hardest league in the world, it’s not at the highest quality like the Premier League.
“But for an endurance and high quality, 46 games, plus your cup games, it is definitely a test of endurance for both the mind and the body.
“If you can get 30-35 games out of him as a minimum then I can see Aaron being successful.”
