Chelsea have made some moves in the January transfer window, and they are, potentially, quite big ones. The Brazilian that’s considered a cult hero, Ramires, has officially parted ways with the Stamford Bridge club in a reported £25 million transfer to Jiangsu Suning. It was always felt that he wasn’t getting the playing time that he wanted at the club, filling in a part bit role for every manager that has come and gone.
However, his imperative part that he played in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona will be one that Chelsea fans, around the globe, will always hold dear to their heart. It’s not as if that’s the only moment of sensation that he’s had at the club. It is quite the contrary. Ramires has often been the source of goals when the team has needed it. And they’ve often come in thunderbolts. His long range goals, along with his chipped beauties, will be greatly missed.
His transfer is a moment of just making the most out of your opportunity for both parties, as Chelsea got a buck-load for a player who is 29 years old, and Ramires has a chance to make a ton of money playing under less pressure and more regularly than he has been at Chelsea. Hopefully, it turns out that way.
Chelsea’s Brazilian midfielder Ramires celebrates after scoring against Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League second leg semi-final football match Barcelona against Chelsea at the Cam Nou stadium in Barcelona on April 24, 2012. (JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)
It could, though, be one more thorn in Chelsea’s disastrous season if his exit means that they now don’t have a viable option in midfield when Fabregas and/or Matic is missing. Ramires’s versatility, due to his pace and stamina, to be able to blend in wherever the gaffer wanted him deserves huge credit. He isn’t at the same level with his passing, but totally understandably, as players often lack the same guile in every single aspect of the game.
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – MAY 10: Alexandre Pato #11 of Sao Paulo celebrates their second goal during the match between Sao Paulo and Flamengo for the Brazilian Series A 2015 at Morumbi stadium on May 10, 2015 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)
Anyways, Ramires’s departure, though no way connected to the imminent arrival of Alexandre Pato, paves the way for a new signing and could be the catalyst for new and better things. Pato and Ramires are actually quite similar, now that I think about it, in terms of their footballing careers. Granted one’s 26 and the other 29, both were expected for big things when they were youngsters. Pato, when at Milan, was sometimes even suspected of being the next Ronaldo (the Brazilian). On the other hand, no one perhaps doubted Ramires’s quality. He was destined for greatness, people thought, and they thought about the heights that Brazilian great Zico had reached and, in their wildest dreams, might’ve pictured Rami there in a few years’ time. This is why Roman Abramovich paid the huge £18 million fee for him back then. Think of this as £50 million in today’s transfer market.
Things didn’t work out as planned for either of them, and their fall has wiped out their early promise from the footballing world. But, as both of them have been given a chance to remake themselves, certainly the younger, can they do it? Can Pato resurge from the dead and make himself one of Europe’s best again? Only time will tell.
