Aaron Ramsey: What does the future hold for Wales midfielder?

A genuine legend of Welsh football, adored by his nation but marginalised at his famous club side, with his future now extremely uncertain.

Only this time it's not Gareth Bale who does not know where he will be playing his football this season.

Instead it is Wales' midfield maestro Aaron Ramsey, who is unwanted at Italian giants Juventus and seemingly being priced out of a move elsewhere.

Heading towards the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, BBC Sport Wales takes a look at the 31-year-old's difficult situation and examines whether Ramsey is set to become an international player only.

Unwanted in Turin

According to the great Arsene Wenger, who managed Ramsey for a decade, Juventus signed "the complete midfielder" when they agreed to pay Ramsey a reported £400,000 a week in a free transfer deal in 2019.

Ramsey had scored 65 goals in 371 games for the Gunners and was a key figure in three FA Cup wins, scoring the winning goals in the 2013 and 2017 finals.

However, despite winning a Serie A title and Coppa Italia in his first two seasons with Juventus, Ramsey struggled to make a true impact.

Injuries, often a curse on his career, became frequent as he played only 70 times in two and a half seasons, scoring six goals. Of his 49 Serie A appearances, 25 were starts and he completed 90 minutes just once.

A dozen or so injury issues ensured Ramsey never played back-to-back games for Juventus. Now he probably never will.

Ramsey was loaned to Rangers in January to much fanfare, but that move to Scotland did not work out particularly well for player or club, culminating in Ramsey missing a penalty in the shootout as Rangers were defeated in the Europa League final.

Ramsey's squad number at Juventus - number eight - has been left vacant by the club so far this summer.

Having featured only three times under Massimiliano Allegri last season for Juventus, it would seem highly unlikely he is going to be reintegrated, especially with further midfield enforcements expected to arrive as Paul Pogba closes in on a return.

A return to a former club?

Ramsey was hailed as Rangers' biggest signing - certainly from Italy - since England great Paul Gascoigne, but injuries ensured he played just 13 times in four months in Scotland.

He only started nine games and his time in Glasgow will probably be best - although not fondly - remembered for the penalty miss in the deciding shootout that handed Eintracht Frankfurt victory in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

Had the move to Rangers gone better, a return to Ibrox might have suited all parties, but that seems unlikely now.

So what of a reunion with another former club, Ramsey's boyhood team Cardiff City?

Unlike Bale, who considered a move to his hometown team before opting to move to Los Angeles, Ramsey has a strong connection to Cardiff City, having played for the club as a teenager before his switch to Arsenal, returning on loan in 2011.

A third spell would be a dream for Bluebirds fans, and bookmakers clearly think it is possible, with the Bluebirds 2-1 favourites to be Ramsey's next club.

For both parties, however, issues exist that might prevent a move.

For Ramsey, who has been blighted by injury, there is perhaps no riskier division to play in than the Championship, playing at Premier League intensity on a crammed schedule.

Still only 31 years old, still in his prime, there is also an argument that Ramsey is simply too good to be playing outside of a top division.

For Cardiff, attractive as it would be to sign Ramsey, there are around £400,000 reasons a move could be problematic. Arguably it is tough to see how the move can make financial sense for any of the three parties involved.

On the football side of things, the Bluebirds have already made 10 summer signings and it would be difficult to justify ripping up all the plans of boss Steve Morison and inserting a world-class talent like Ramsey into the picture - especially with new addition Romaine Sawyers and Wales teen Rubin Colwill already vying to play in his favoured role.

Wales the priority

So if Juventus don't want Ramsey and if a move to Rangers or Cardiff seems unlikely, it would seem Ramsey might be smartest in prioritising the team that really does want him... Wales.

Ramsey is due around £20m in wages before his Juventus deal expires in 2023 and that makes it difficult - though not impossible - to see a last-minute move opening up for him before the summer transfer window closes.

Having signed such a lucrative deal, Ramsey will surely and rightly want to see out his contract, which expires in 2023.

However, this is no lost season for Ramsey, whatever happens in Turin, because Wales have qualified for the 2022 World Cup and Ramsey remains the beating heart of Robert Page's side.

Having waited his whole career to play in a World Cup, Ramsey will be desperate to play in Qatar, and Wales will be equally desperate to have him there.

If Bale remains Wales' lead player, Ramsey is the national side's conductor and arguably most pivotal performer.

Ramsey used his own fitness team to ensure he was available for the Euros last year and will be equally focused on Qatar, perhaps content even to be a marginalised figure - and an extremely well paid one - at Juventus in the lead-up.

Normally a player is desperate for playing time before a major tournament. Ramsey knows he doesn't need to play a minute of club football to ensure his Wales spot.

Indeed, Wales supporters would absolutely accept a Ramsey lacking in match sharpness if it meant guaranteeing he was available for World Cup selection.

That would allow Ramsey to let his football speak for itself at the showcase of a World Cup.

After the World Cup Ramsey will be able to discuss potential moves as a free agent next summer - at the age of just 32 - and as a free agent he might well be appealing to a number of clubs across Europe and beyond.

But for now Ramsey might well become an international player only for the remainder of 2022, a situation Wales fans will not mind one bit.