Over the course of the January transfer window, we will take a closer look at the best of the week’s business with our ‘Transfer of the Week’ columns. This time, our focus will be on Mayra Ramírez, whose €500,000 release clause has been triggered by Chelsea to set a new world record transfer fee in women’s football.
By Neel Shelat
Chelsea’s first headlines of 2024 were the worst possible ones – Sam Kerr suffering a season-ending ACL injury. It is really tough to find a positive angle when a team loses their star striker, but the only favourable aspect of this was the timing, as the Blues had a good couple of weeks in the transfer window to scour the market and decide if they wanted to make a signing.
As they seek a fifth-consecutive Women’s Super League title in what is set to be Emma Hayes’ last season at the English club, Chelsea concluded that they would need to bring someone in to replace the firepower of Kerr up front. After some deliberation, their pick was Levante’s Mayra Ramírez.
Right from first glance, it is easy to see why the Blues went for the 24-year-old Colombian striker. Just like Kerr, she is an exceptional goal-scorer but has a lot more to her game than just that, as she can be an imposing aerial presence up top and link up well with her teammates.
That player radar looks eerily similar to Kerr’s, so Chelsea’s scouting department have clearly done a great job in finding an almost like-for-like replacement as far as player profiles are concerned.
Of course, there are some differences between the two players. For one, Ramírez has a much bigger frame than her Australian counterpart. At 178 cm, she stands 10 cm taller than Kerr. WSL defences have already been tormented enough by the ex-Perth Glory striker, so they could well be absolutely bullied by the new arrival.
Despite her stature, Ramírez is a very mobile striker. She always shows great work-rate off the ball, both to lead the press when her team does not have possession and to probe for openings when her teammates have the ball. For both Levante and Colombia, she can be seen constantly making runs into channels, spinning in behind or dropping deep to always keep her opposing defenders on their toes. The 24-year-old forward has a decent turn of pace too, so she can run onto balls in behind besides serving as a very strong aerial target.
In and around the box, Ramírez can be absolutely deadly. Her goal-scoring record speaks for itself, as she has averaged well over a goal every two matches in two seasons at Levante.
She is in particularly fine form this season, averaging almost a goal per 90 minutes in Liga F. Her ability to consistently get into dangerous positions through her movement and presence in the box is also a big part of her success, as she has consistently averaged well over 3 shots per 90 in the last couple of seasons.
The numbers also reflect her general on-ball threat, as the Colombian international has averaged 2.25 dribbles per 90 in the league this season. An average of almost 10 touches in the penalty area per 90 is absolutely staggering, so that should paint a good picture of just how much of a threat Ramírez can pose on her own.
This dribbling ability could be particularly important to Ramírez’s long-term future at Chelsea. Unless the next manager opts to use a front-two formation, she will have the very tough task of competing with Kerr for the striker spot. In such a case, her ability to operate on the right wing could prove quite handy to ensure that both of them spend a lot of time together on the pitch.
For this season and the next, Ramírez will add another dimension to Chelsea’s already very diverse forward options, which include the all-action Lauren James, creative threats such as Guro Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, USWNT forwards Catarina Macario and Mia Fishel, as well as youngsters such as Agnes Beever-Jones and Lucy Watson.
In the future, the Colombian international should aim to establish herself as Kerr’s successor at Chelsea as the Australian forward has ticked over the age of 30 years old now.
On the other hand, Levante’s short and long-term UWCL aspirations have surely suffered a big setback with this departure. They are currently locked in an extremely tight four-team battle behind Barcelona, the dominant force in Liga F, and will likely not get much further than that given their financial constraints. For now, they will have to hope that the likes of Gabi Silva, Alba Redondo and Ángela Sosa can minimise the impact of Ramírez’s departure.
Given the way women’s football has been heading of late, Ramírez’s transfer fee could easily be surpassed quite soon. For now, though, she is a deserving holder of that record.
(Images from IMAGO)
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