Arsenal allowed Aaron Ramsey to join Juventus on a free transfer because his salary demands would have wrecked the balance of the wage bill and caused long-term harm to the club, according to their head of football.

Raul Sanllehi has revealed in greater detail the reasons behind Ramsey’s departure to Italy at the end of this season, saying that the club had to keep the “rationality” in salaries to prevent a damaging imbalance in the squad.

Sanllehi, who took over as head of football following the departure of chief executive Ivan Gazidis earlier this season, said Ramsey had “incredible offers” which Arsenal would have been irresponsible to match.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Sanllehi said: “For circumstances, whatever it was, we went to the last year of his contract. That’s a problem.

“We have to be responsible on how we manage the club. One of the key things for me - and I’ve seen that happening in other clubs - one of the key things is to keep the rationality in the salary balance of the team.

“Because of our circumstances, because of not renewing Aaron on time, we were in a situation in which Aaron had incredible offers building up on the salary. He was really keen on staying with us, he was ready to make the effort, but at the end of the whole process we had to be responsible for ourselves and protect the interests of Arsenal.