Arsene Wenger introduced enough skilled midfielders into the Premier League to know what it takes to make it with the best of them. 

Some like Emmanuel Petit were all action. Some Like Patrik Viera were physically dominant. The likes of Mikel Arteta set tempo. Then there were the creators like Santi Carzola. Aaron Ramsey’s quality was arriving when it was most dangerous to the opponent. 

“He has a good timing of runs and he wants the ball and he wants to go forward,” said Wenger. “If you take that out of him, if you say: ‘Look, you have to sit now, sit there and wait,’ you kill his strengths.” 

A world-class box-to-box midfielder capable of causing havoc in the opponent’s box at his best, the on-loan Juventus star perhaps isn’t the force he may have been five years ago, but at 31 he still has more than enough in his locker to make a huge impact on the treble race. 

And it’s looking increasingly likely form and fitness are arriving at the right time. 

Yet, it’s safe to say Ramsey’s introduction to the team since his much-vaunted arrival left mouths agape has been a touch stop-start. 

He made his first start against Annan on a blustery, sleet drenched night in the borders. 

From there he disappeared somewhat alarmingly but has slowly edged his way back with starts against Dundee in the Scottish Cup and Premiership. He also performed well over 90 minutes in Wales’ crucial 2-1 win over Austria in the World Cup play-off on Thursday night. 

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It was one of those rare occasions when the Ibrox management would have been hoping to see one of their players take part in a full international game, representing as it does another step on the road back to Ramsey’s best form. 

Without being showstopping, his performances have been quietly impressive and included a crucial equaliser in the league game when he ghosted in to make a trademark run at the back post. The gamble was typical of a performer with years of experience in sniffing out opportunities and that's exactly what an, at times, goal-shy Rangers have been missing. 

This is a development that comes not a moment too soon. 

Many were starting to question the wisdom of sporting director Ross Wilson’s winter window recruitment strategy given neither Ramsey nor loan signing Amad Diallo had made much impact by the start of March. 

It’s obvious the move to sign a player with a chequered recent injury record was a calculated roll the dice. Rangers had secured a deal that brought in a world-class player for a tiny fraction of his real wage but the challenge was to get him, and keep him, fit. 

And while he’s made only a minimal impact so far, the stars have seemingly aligned to allow that narrative to tilt dramatically. 

Rangers face a month like no other in April. They face a Europa League quarter-final and three Old Firm games jammed into 30 days of what's sure to be breathless action. 

It guarantees five crucial games, of the type the Welshman signed on the dotted line to take part in. This is not Dundee at Dens or Annan away. It’s football at an elite level. It’s the kind of theatre in which an Aaron Ramsey comes alive. 

And suddenly Wilson’s gamble could pay off.

Rangers have an operator more than capable of making a decisive impact, who’s fresh as a daisy and desperate to make an impact. 

Perhaps his old boss Wenger was more right than he ever knew about his old charge’s capacity for timing his runs.