Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey has set his sights on a call-up to the senior England squad after winning the European Under-21 Championship under Lee Carsley in July.
Ramsey got his hands on the trophy five weeks after England won the tournament for the first time in 39 years, having missed the celebrations in Georgia due to injury. The 22-year-old broke a metatarsal in England’s quarter-final win over Portugal, and after a two-month lay-off, he returned from injury to make his first appearance of the season in Villa’s 3-2 defeat at Legia Warsaw on Thursday night.
“This was my first long-term injury, I was out for 10 weeks and I kind of let my body relax, had a holiday,” Ramsey said in Warsaw. “I was disappointed to get injured in that tournament and miss the first five league games, but it was a really good rest, I needed it. But I’m back now and I’m happy.
“The longest injury I’d had before was three to four weeks, this was a 10-week injury, so I had seven weeks from surgery off my feet. The last month has been tough trying to get back to fitness. I’m playing catch up at the moment, bit behind the lads in terms of fitness. But I’m enjoying training, being with the lads again.
“I’ve only trained from Sunday so I’ve already trained three or four days. I felt alright out there tonight. I missed pre-season and five weeks of the season.
“I did worry about my fitness and trying to play catch-up but out there tonight I felt good, a few good touches and stuff. We’ve got six games in four weeks and hopefully the boss keeps feeding me in.
“It will be a chance to get my fitness up and fight my way back into the manager’s plans. We’ve strengthened over the summer so there’s a lot of competition. I’ve got to fight my way back into the starting XI and I’ll enjoy it.”
Ramsey was one of several players in Carsley’s under-21s who have already established themselves at their respective Premier League clubs. He played a key role in the England side, but after sustaining a foot injury, he was forced to watch his teammates’ celebrations from back home.
“It was tough but when the lads won it I was over the moon,” Ramsey said. “It made it a little bit better. I was disappointed not to play in the semis or the final as I played a big part in the tournament. Had a good summer, nice little rest, back to it now.
“I needed the rest. With this injury it allowed me to have six weeks off my feet, go away on holiday for a bit longer than normal, coming off the big tournament and the big end to the season. Nobody wants to get injured but it was a good time just to relax.”
Ahead of the Euros in Germany next year, Ramsey is targeting his first call-up to the senior England team as Gareth Southgate runs the rule over a whole host of players with a few international breaks scheduled in the coming next months.
“With it being at the end of the season it gives me a bit more time to find my feet in the Villa team and that’s the aim really, for the season, to get into that [England] team,” Ramsey explained.
“I’m too old for the under-21s now, getting older! The full England team is the aim but right now I’ve just played my first game of the season. I’m trying to get back into the Villa squad. Once I do that and then start adding goals and assists and then hopefully, who knows?”
After missing the whole of pre-season and the club’s first seven games in all competitions, Ramsey is lacking match fitness, but the midfielder believes he will be able to get back up to speed given the amount of games Villa will play over the next few weeks.
“For the next four weeks we have six games so it will be a chance to get my fitness up and fight my way back into the manager’s plans,” he added. “We’ve strengthened over the summer so there’s a lot of competition. I’ve got to fight my way back into the starting XI and I’ll enjoy it.”
Villa signed Nicolo Zaniolo on loan in the summer to add to Emery’s attacking options, and the Italian has made a promising start. Ramsey admitted after the defeat at Legia that competition for places can only benefit the squad.
“He looked good tonight and in his debut against Palace,” Ramsey said of Zaniolo. “He’s a strong boy. Competition with two really good players. Look forward to it.
“When you play for a club like Villa and you’re in these competitions, you know the boss is going to rotate. He has two players for every position. When I was injured and the club was making these big signings, it does give you a bit of motivation to come back and prove a point.”
Ramsey could make his first start for Villa this weekend, as Emery’ side make the trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. The Blues have made a poor start to the season having won just five points from the first five games of the season.
“I don’t think playing Chelsea at any time is good,” Ramsey said. “We won there last season. Their squad has changed a little bit and we’ve strengthened so it’s going to be a really good game.
“I know a couple of players. I know Cole Palmer from the Euros. They’re quite young and their boss is trying to build maybe not for the present but the future. Why not? They’ve got really young talented players. They’re still a really strong squad. Big game on Sunday and looking forward to it.”
Asked about England under-21 teammate Palmer, Ramsey said: “I played with him for the past two to three years. We were on camp until I got injured for a few weeks in Georgia so I got really quite close to the players out there. He is a top talent and he has made a big move from Man City to Chelsea, two big clubs. I hope it pays off for him.
“If you’ve got really good potential and a club want you, they will pay the money. But Cole’s a top top player.”
