Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle United: Jacob Ramsey marked his return to Villa Park with a win following his £41million move to Newcastle.
The 24-year-old opened his account for The Magpies by scoring the winner at Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night. He then started against his former club Aston Villa on Saturday.
Following Newcastle’s opening day 0-0 draw against Villa at Villa Park, a £41million transfer was agreed for Ramsey. The midfielder graduated from Villa’s academy and went on to make 167 first-team appearances for the club.
But Villa’s pressure to sell and comply with UEFA and Premier League financial rules, paired with the incentive of academy graduates being booked as ‘pure profit’, saw them reluctantly cash in on Ramsey last summer.
Buoyed by his recent match-winning display at Spurs, Ramsey returned to Villa Park full of confidence.
And that was clear ahead of kick-off as the TNT Sports cameras captured a cheeky interaction between Ramsey and his former teammate Morgan Rogers.
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TNT Sports capture Jacob Ramsey moment NUFC fans will love & Villa will hate
Footage showing Ramsey looking over to his former teammate and kissing the Newcastle club crest on his shirt before smiling was shared by TNT Sports.
As was Rogers’ reaction giving the former Villa man a thumb down as he smirked.
While ultimately a bit of fun between two friends and former teammates, Newcastle fans will no doubt love Ramsey kissing the badge on his return to Villa.
While Rogers’ reaction probably sums up the reaction most people of a Villa persuasion will have to seeing their former academy player and boyhood fan kissing his new team’s crest.
Imagine Elliot Anderson kissing the Nottingham Forest badge on his return to St James’ Park? Makes you sick just thinking about it!
Jacob Ramsey ‘a Newcastle United player’
Speaking ahead of the match at Villa, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe believes Ramsey feels like ‘a Newcastle United player’.
“I do,” Howe said. “It can never be underestimated how difficult it is for any player to leave a club you have been associated with for so long.
“You have got to feel that new identity with your new team and sometimes that takes longer for some people than others. I’m not saying that was the case with Jacob because I don’t know how he felt deep down but, certainly, in the first few weeks, the first few games you play can be difficult for a new team, especially a slightly different way of play of playing and a slightly different position.
“I’ve got to say he’s done it all with real professionalism. I’ve had no issues with him. He’s worked really hard at his game. He’s been very conscientious, really good around the training ground.
“He’s settling in really well with his team-mates. He has really good friendship groups and looks really happy.
“But there’s nothing better than actually contributing and helping the team win games. There’s no better way to feel part of the Newcastle family than that and I think that will be a big turning point for him.”
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