Newcastle United's English midfielder #41 Jacob Ramsey (L) runs away from Chelsea's French defender #29 Wesley Fofana (R) during the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St James' Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on December 20, 2025. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images)placeholder image
Newcastle United's English midfielder #41 Jacob Ramsey (L) runs away from Chelsea's French defender #29 Wesley Fofana (R) during the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St James' Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on December 20, 2025. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Jacob Ramsey started back-to-back games for Newcastle United for the first time last week.
Ramsey was a big-money arrival from Aston Villa in the summer but up until the start of last week had been limited to just four starts.
The 24-year-old picked up an ankle injury on his full debut in the goalless draw away to Leeds United on August 30, keeping him sidelined for around seven weeks. And he returned, he found game time hard to come by.
Ramsey started matches against Tottenham Hotspur, Benfica and Burnley but didn’t make it off the bench in other games, including the Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Jacob Ramsey breakthrough at Newcastle United?
But since then, there appears to have been a breakthrough for Ramsey after the midfielder last week started back-to-back matches against Fulham and Chelsea. He is set to retain his place for the visit to Manchester United on Boxing Day.
When it was put to Howe that Ramsey was looking better by the game, Howe replied: “Yeah, I'd agree with that. I think that was his best game for us, I felt, against Chelsea, [he was] athletically, very, very good. Some of the numbers that he produced in that game were elite in terms of the benchmark for midfielders.
“I think that's a great sign because I think the challenge for JJ has been, since his injury at Leeds, where he twisted his ankle, it was a nasty injury, he had momentum then and then he had to start all over again. I think he's just returning to his very best levels.
“You can see him technically very rarely waste the ball. It's a great quality to have. I think the next step for him is to start impacting the final third with goals and assists and those decisive actions which we know he's capable of.”
Jacob Ramsey’s move to Newcastle United angered Aston Villa players
Ramsey’s move to Tyneside angered sections of the Aston Villa dressing room, with captain John McGinn publicly taking aim at the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Tyrone Mings also cryptically wrote, “you don’t know the half.”
Like Villa, Newcastle were forced to sell Elliot Anderson last year, with the “pure profit” generated from the sale of academy graduate helping them to comply with PSR and avoid an inevitable points deduction.
Discussing Ramsey’s exit, Villa director of football operations Damian Vidagany told BBC West Midlands: “It was very sad that Jacob departed because Jacob represented the dream of every Birmingham neighbourhood. But there are two things.
“We sold Jacob Ramsey because it was a great offer from Newcastle. Second thing was Jacob Ramsey finishing his contract in 2027. And we didn’t get any agreement to extend the contract.
“For one year, we tried. But what is true, when a player is not extending, you have two ways. Let him terminate the contract and finish it and go for free or for lower money.
“Or, if you don’t extend him, sell him at the best price. We didn’t get an agreement, so sometimes when it happens that we can not get an agreement, the best deal is to sell at the best price.”
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