Aaron Ramsey hopes to catch the eye for Wales at Euro 2016... but wants his football to do the talking rather than blond hair

Aaron Ramsey will stand out at Euro 2016 for his freshly-dyed platinum hair but after a season at Arsenal that gave cause for reflection it is on the pitch where he wants to make the proper impact.

For Wales, Ramsey often flies just underneath the radar because of Gareth Bale’s huge stature and Chris Coleman will be content if that remains the case in France, so convinced is the manager of his player’s ability to hurt opponents who underestimate.

The bleach blond cut may blow that theory out of the water but the 25-year-old made clear he would not be happy going unnoticed even if he had kept his usual look.

Aaron Ramsey is keen to make an impact at Euro 2016 after a difficult season for his club side Arsenal

Ramsey revealed his new bleached blond hair style in a photograph on Instagram during Wednesday

‘I want to make an impression on the field,’ said the Arsenal midfielder. ‘That is my main target, to help Wales get out of the group stages and then see where we go from there.’

And the hair? ‘No significance, I just fancied a change,’ he said. ‘I have been contemplating it for a while and just thought, “Yeah why not.”

‘It was a bit of a shock to some of the lads but a lot of them are saying they are having it now.’ 

Do not expect his Welsh colleagues to follow suit, however. This will be no repeat of the all-blond Romanian team from the 98 World Cup.

‘He looks like Justin Bieber,’ said Wayne Hennessey. The Crystal Palace goalkeeper was smiling but seemed to mean it more in admiration than mickey-taking.

He added: ‘There has not been any ribbing, I think it suits him. It might be a bet, I don’t know. But I don’t think we will all be copying him like Romania. 

Gareth Bale's prominence means that Ramsey, left, often flies under the radar when it comes to Wales

‘It was a surprise, we did not know he would do it, but he can pull it off and if he can do it on the pitch it won’t matter.’

That is the point, footballers make real statements with their feet and for the first time Ramsey has an international tournament as the platform. He will relish the responsibility of trying to lead Wales through to the knock-out phase and enjoy operating in his preferred position of attacking midfield.

At Arsenal, he has predominantly been used out wide or back deep with Arsene Wenger having collected offensive players like a magpie does silver. At times this season Ramsey has reached the dynamic form of 2013/14 when he scored 18 goals for club and country, but at other moments doubts about his effectiveness have come to the surface. 

Wayne Hennessey said that Ramsey's haircut made him look like Canadian pop star Justin Bieber

The goalkeeper said that Ramsey is able to pull off the hairstyle and that there had not been much ribbing

He finished the Premier League campaign with a total of five goals and four assists, below par it must be admitted. But for Wales he usually delivers and Coleman talks openly about finding a system at the start of the qualifying campaign that utilised both Bale and Ramsey to their fullest.

The side’s two stars are each given a roaming role as de facto No 10s, behind a solo striker and in front of a four-man midfield including wing-backs. While the victory over Belgium was rightly regarded as the big moment in qualifying, the 3-0 win in Israel saw the formation at its most fluent, with Bale and Ramsey linking up to devastating effect.

Ramsey scored one and set up another and that is what Coleman wants to tap into when the real competition starts. Sometimes Ramsey looks like he tries too hard to make the difference but Coleman will always encourage that, mindful of his potential. 

Ramsey tends to play in a deep position for Arsenal but is likely to be used as an attacking midfielder in France

‘All I expect from Aaron is just to be Aaron Ramsey on the pitch for us, because there's no one like him,’ said Coleman. ‘He gives us something that we haven't got. He can do things in the position that others can’t. He can start play on the edge of our box and finish it off on the edge of the opposition box.

‘We've got a saying that you're only as good as your worst game – that's nonsense. Surely you're only as good as your best game because that's the level that you can get to.

‘Some of the performances I've seen him put in are total dominance in a football game – some of the best performances I've seen from any Welsh midfielder. That's how good he can be.

‘He went to Scotland and absolutely ran the game (in March 2013). He went to Belgium in the first campaign with almost our reserve team and he ran the game (in October 2013). We dictated the tempo and he was brilliant. Balo will tell you good Aaron Ramsey is.

Chris Coleman suggested that Ramsey being under the radar relative to Bale may work out best for him

'Whatever happens at Arsenal or anywhere else, I can only speak about when he comes with us. He's on the ball so much, and when you're on the ball as much as he is, there are going to be mistakes and you're going to give it away.

‘When you've got the imagination he has and the confidence he has, when you try something it's not always going to come off. But when it comes off, he can open doors that nobody else can. He's as big for us as anyone.’

Coleman said it might be beneficial if Bale took attention away in France. 

‘Balo doesn't care, he's got that personality where he just gets on with it. And it's good for Aaron, if he's under the radar he won't have a problem with that.’