Aston Villa's recent signings have all been fantastic, but none of them can top the arrival of Unai Emery.
The Villans have been completely transformed by the Spaniard, to the point where Villa Park could be playing the Champions League anthem next season.
However, what is always a great sign to suggest a transfer strategy is successful is whether those who are let go of don't reach new heights after leaving.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the player that Villa truly hit the jackpot on by letting them go in the summer.
Aaron Ramsey's time at Aston Villa
Just like his older brother Jacob, Aaron Ramsey began his career in the Villa academy as a youngster before progressing through the ranks to become one of the most promising players in the youth setup.
In 53 games for the U23s and U21s, the attacking midfielder scored 24 goals and provided 13 assists, but the English youngster only made one appearance for Villa's first team, which was in the 6-0 win over Barrow in the EFL Cup in 2021.
However, most of his Villa career as a professional was spent on loan at numerous EFL clubs, with his performances for Norwich City and Middlesbrough impressing enough for scout Jacek Kulig to describe Ramsey's campaign as "fantastic."
The first half of the campaign saw the 21-year-old play 18 Championship games for the Canaries, where he scored three goals and provided three assists.
Ramsey then joined Michael Carrick's side for the second half of the season, with the aim of achieving promotion. Boro ultimately missed out on that goal, but the Villa loanee scored five times and registered one assist in 11 league games.
Aaron Ramsey's 2023/24 season in numbers
In the summer, Ramsey's time at his boyhood club came to an end, with Emery deciding that the academy graduate was surplus to requirements. Vincent Kompany identified the attacker as a target, and in August, he secured the services of the Villans ace for £14m.
Ramsey only made one appearance in pre-season, but that was for Villa in the 1-1 draw against Walsall. The lack of games saw him take longer to return to fitness, and he made his Burnley debut in the matchday three 3-1 defeat to his former club Villa as a second-half substitute.
Three days later, the versatile star made his first start for the club, but just after the break, he suffered an injury that saw him miss just under a month of action. It wasn't exactly the dream start to life at Turf Moor that he would have imagined.
From that point on, Ramsey has been in and out of the team and failed to register a single goal contribution, making just 14 appearances and five starts, with an average of 37 minutes per game. Unfortunately, his season statistics will stay at that after he picked up a terrible knee injury against Arsenal recently, which will keep him out for the rest of the campaign.
Appearances
14
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots per game
0.4
Touches per game
17.8
Key passes per game
0.07
Successful dribbles per game
0.2
Unfortunately, Ramsey has had a few injury problems over the years, with one at the start of 2023 also causing him issues, but as you can see by the table, he was largely ineffective and poor during the matches he did play in, and to receive £14m pure profit for the attacker was certainly a smart decision by Villa.