10 Exceptional Players Newcastle United Should Never Have Turned Down

9. Aaron Ramsey

He might have had a stuttering start to his Arsenal career thanks to injury, but Aaron Ramsey is now one of the club's key players, and one of their brightest creative influences, and apparently it could have been Newcastle profiting from his goals, rather than the Gunners. Back in 2006/07, Peter Kirkley - the head of Wallsend Boys Club and former head of youth recruitment at Newcastle (single-handedly responsible for saving Andy Carroll's career when the club wanted to bin him) - invited the Welshman to Newcastle for a trial when he was around 15 or 16 and attracting some serious attention. According to Kirkley Ramsey loved it at the club and and wanted to sign, but when Cardiff asked for a paltry £500,000, Freddy Shepherd said no. Not only that, but Ramsey then came back for another trial, where he impressed inevitably with the first team - as confirmed by Robbie Elliott - but once again Newcastle refused to pay the £500,000. But £10m for Obafemi Martins and £5m for Damien Duff were apparently both fine... https://twitter.com/robbieelliott3/status/467733237888860160 And guess what, the problem was the club's refusal to pay the transfer fee... https://twitter.com/robbieelliott3/status/467735488044883969 And this one can't even be pinned on Mike Ashley.