Aaron Barnes on his move from Hythe Town to Ramsgate and his ‘random’ conversation with legendary manager Arsene Wenger while an Arsenal academy player

New signing Aaron Barnes appears to have found the ideal fit in Ramsgate.

Barnes has joined the Rams after an impressive campaign at fellow Isthmian South East club Hythe.

They’ve been long-time admirers of the full-back, who came through the academy at Arsenal and made his professional debut for Charlton in League 1.

Manager Ben Smith followed up on his interest and Barnes, 27, is on board for next season’s title challenge.

“I had a fair bit of interest from a lot of teams in this league and a couple in the league above but I’m happy to have got it sorted nice and early,” said Barnes, who’s also played for Torquay, Colchester, Dulwich and Welling.

“Ramsgate have been interested for quite a while, even through last season, so when that got solidified at the start of the summer, it was one I had my eye on.

“They probably should have gone up last year.

“It was a tough race between them and Cray Valley and the ambition of the club is what attracted me as well.

“They do things properly and even going there on a Tuesday night last season, they had a big crowd in.

“I’m very happy to be there. I’m looking forward to next season already.

“They’re a team that very much impressed me when we played them, both home and away.

“It’s a style of play I very much enjoy, playing out from the back and trying to be expressive.

“There’s a lot of talented players there and big expectations for us to do well.

“But, to be honest, I thrive under expectation and pressure, so hopefully we have a good season.”

Barnes played in multiple roles at Hythe and scored some spectacular goals, too, including a magnificent solo effort against Ashford.

He travelled 60 yards up the left wing, leaving defenders trailing in his wake before cutting inside and bending the ball into the top corner.

Rams intend to use him mainly as a full-back but Barnes will retain his eye for goal.

“I like to play anywhere I can get on the ball,” said Barnes.

“Primarily, in my professional career, I was a full-back but I can play wing-back or winger or midfield.

“Speaking to Ben, the gaffer, the plan is for me mainly to be a full-back.

“I scored quite a few goals last season and, playing full-back, I don’t want it to temper the number of goals I get.

“I still want to get quite a few next year.”

Barnes was with Arsenal between the ages of nine and 16.

He played in the same academy side as Chuba Akpom (Ajax), Alex Iwobi (Everton), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Lyon) and brothers Joe Willock (Newcastle) and Chris Willock (QPR).

“Being at Arsenal, it was kind of what I was used to,” said Barnes.

“You become accustomed to it.

“Maybe looking back, I didn’t realise how privileged I was to be in that position.

“When you’re young, you’re oblivious to the reality of the opportunity you’re given but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

“I got to travel up and down the country and across Europe, playing games against the best kids around. It was a really good experience.”

The first-team squad had a separate training ground but Barnes was fortunate to meet legendary Gunners boss Arsene Wenger.

He added: “I was lucky, I got invited to the first-team training ground a couple of times when I was quite young so I had the privilege of meeting Wenger and the first-team staff.

“I just remember being absolutely starstruck. I couldn’t get my words out.

“I remember him saying I looked quite intelligent, which was a bit of a random thing to say, but it was nice of him to say that. I suppose he wasn’t too far off because I did all right at school!

“It was a brief encounter but it’s definitely stayed with me.”

Barnes dropped into Isthmian South East with Hythe last summer after leaving National League South Welling.

His friendship with then-Cannons boss Steve Watt got the deal over the line.

Barnes’ quality stood out as Hythe reached the last 32 of the FA Trophy and pushed for the play-offs before a fixture backlog saw them fall away.

“I’ve known Watty for quite a while - we coach together at Pro Soccer,” said Barnes.

“It’s funny because at the start he was, tongue-in-cheek, saying come down to Hythe and I wasn’t particularly keen at the time as I wanted to try and stay higher.

“As the summer progressed I was talking to clubs but things weren’t going how I wanted them to and then Hythe became more of a reality.

“Watty was persistent and I always value people that want you and have that interest in you and I thought why not? I knew a few boys there as well and it was a good environment for me.

“We started really well and then the pitch started to play against us a little bit and we had a lot of games postponed.

“We ended up with a fixture backlog and we just ran out of steam.”