Aaron Ramsey has told the Islington Gazette he would never join Spurs if he left Arsenal following the club withdrawing their contract offer.

The 27-year-old captained Arsenal to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon after a 78th minute winners by Danny Welbeck sealed Unai Emery’s side’s 11th win on the bounce.

The Europa League victory in the Portuguese capital on Thursday evening was the Gunners first win in six attempts in the Iberian county and means the North Londoners only need a point from their final three games to qualify for the knock-out stages.

The Welsh international spoke to the Gazette after the match at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

In response to a question asking if he would ever join Arsenal’s bitter rivals in N17 the talented midfielder replied emphatically: “No,” adding, “I was captain [against Sporting]. I’m delighted with that. The boss has named me one of the five captains so I have an important part to play in the dressing room.

“I had the opportunity to captain the team tonight which is always a privilege, to captain this football club. Hopefully there will be a few more opportunities.”

Despite the match being scrappy for large parts none of the travelling 3,000 Arsenal fans, nor the head coach or his players will care too much as they notched another triumph to build genuine momentum ahead of a tricky set of fixtures in November.

The win also means Emery’s men picked up their third triumph out of three in Group E to go three points clear of their Portuguese rivals.

However, Ramsey is still perplexed as the why the club withdrew their offer of a new deal in the aftermath of CEO Ivan Gazidis departing for AC Milan.

Speaking in the mixed zone in the aftermath of the 1-0 win he explained: “There is no contract on the table at the moment so there is nothing for me to consider or whatever.

“We all know that the contract was taken away off the table. I’m not sure exactly why because a few weeks before we sort of agreed and I was ready to sign.

“Something happened, I am not sure exactly what, but that contract is no longer there, or nothing’s on the table.

“So I just have to get my head down, work hard and try and help this team as much as I can now. We’ll see where that takes me.

“I’m just concentrating on playing my football. When the time is right, I probably will find out but that hasn’t happened yet.”

When asked what boss Emery has made of the situation the former Cardiff player replied: “He’s just concentrating on football as well and wants me to do the best for this club.

“He trusts me, he’s made me one of the captains and we are just focusing on trying to achieve something special this season.”