Wenger confirms Cardiff return for Ramsey

Aaron Ramsey returned to his first club Cardiff City on loan last night to continue his recovery from injury.

The Welsh midfielder has not played for Arsenal since February 2010 when he broke his right leg and manager Arsène Wenger believes a spell in the Welsh capital will benefit both club and player.

Ramsey's move means he is back at the club he left to join Arsenal in June 2008. It is only for until the end of February as Wenger hopes to bring Ramsey back into the Arsenal first team by the end of this season. "I don't want him to go to a Premier League club," Wenger said yesterday. "Because I want him to finish the season with us. I just look for competition for him."

Ramsey's last Arsenal appearance was at the Britannia Stadium on 27 February 2010, when his leg was broken by Stoke's Ryan Shawcross. After nine months of recovery he joined Nottingham Forest on loan, and made two starts and three substitute appearances between November and this month. Since then he has twice been an unused substitute for Arsenal but has yet to play a competitive minute. Wenger hopes that a spell at Cardiff, who are pushing for promotion to the Premier League, could provide Ramsey with the first-team football he needs. The loan period covers eight Championship matches.

Another Arsenal midfielder going on loan to the Championship is Henri Lansbury, for whom Norwich City have agreed terms for the rest of the season. Lansbury made five appearances for Norwich earlier in the season and will return to Carrow Road next week. Carlos Vela may also be allowed to leave Arsenal on loan.

Wenger, whose side take on Wigan at the Emirates today, also spoke about the impressive form of Samir Nasri, and how he was first impressed by Nasri on his Marseilles debut as a teenager. "Sometimes I am wrong but I had always a positive impression about Nasri. A player who at 17 years old who starts in the first-team and has an impact like [Wayne] Rooney had; it was a bit similar."

Nasri has been compared with Zinedine Zidane, due to their similar childhoods, growing up as the sons of Algerian immigrants in Marseilles. Wenger identified their similarity differently. "The flexibility of Nasri's hips is similar to Zidane, but Zidane was a different player. Zidane was more a guy who creates openings through his skill, Nasri is more direct."