Aaron Ramsey: Cardiff City boss Erol Bulut hopeful over Wales captain

Erol Bulut hopes Aaron Ramsey has taken a step towards playing a bigger part for Cardiff City next season after the Wales captain made his first appearance of pre-season.

Ramsey played the first 61 minutes as the Bluebirds beat Belgian side Kortrijk 3-1 at the Cardiff International Sports Campus on Saturday.

The midfielder, 33, has not played since Cardiff’s Championship game at Birmingham last April having been rested for Wales’ summer friendlies against Gibraltar and Slovakia.

A succession of fitness issues meant Ramsey, who rejoined his boyhood club last summer, managed only 13 Cardiff appearances in 2023-24.

Bulut is optimistic that the former Arsenal and Juventus player will be available more often in the upcoming Championship campaign.

“Aaron didn’t have a summer holiday – I know he trained a lot to be fit for this season,” the Cardiff boss said.

“Right now he is doing everything well. We have to manage his minutes. Sometimes it will be good for him to stay away from the game to protect him for the next game.

“Of course the best management [comes from] him – he has to make that decision for himself. Of course we talk always with our physios about it and I hope this season we can use him more than last season.”

After Kortrijk went ahead in Cardiff, Isaak Davies levelled from the penalty spot against the club he played for on loan last season.

Jamilu Collins and Rubin Colwill then scored second-half goals to give Cardiff a first pre-season win.

There was no place in the squad for new recruit Chris Willock, with Bulut suggesting he needs to do at least 10 days of training before taking part in a match.

Bulut, who was speaking to club media, added that he hopes for more new signings to arrive in the coming week, with Cardiff known to be close to landing Aston Villa defender Calum Chambers.