Former Brazil international midfielder Ramires has announced his retirement, ending his 16-year career; The name of the former Chelsea player is well documented in the annals of Stamford Bridge.
The 35-year-old Ramirez made his debut in the Bundesliga and joined Portuguese Super League powerhouse Benfica in 2009. In the first season of the team, this "marathon" midfielder had a good performance, leading the country to become a double champion; That put him under Chelsea's attention, taking him to Stamford Bridge for £22 million.
In the summer of 2010, Chelsea had just won the Premier League title, but the team was already showing signs of aging. Michael Barak, Deco, Joe Cole, Ricardo Carvalho and other key members aged and left; Squad midfielder Essien is also trapped by injuries and Lampard is 32 years old; Ramirez was an important role in supporting Chelsea's midfield during this period. The next season Chelsea experienced the "Boas Rebellion", the team's aging problem was more serious, Anelka, Alex and the team were not happy; Florent Maluda and Drogba were also beaten into the cold for a time, and the situation only improved after Di Matteo took office.
However, Chelsea was really not optimistic that season, the four elders are getting old, and the new generation of players such as Mata, Daniel Sturridge and David Luiz have performed well, but they still have no succession. Fortunately, Di Matteo successfully "rejuvenated" a group of veterans and straightened out the team in the middle of the season. Ramirez was also the main player of the team that season and played an important role in the Champions League; In the two-legged match against Barcelona, Ramirez first cooperated in the first leg to make an assist; In the second leg, he scored a prized winning goal that helped the team reach the Champions League final. Although Ramirez did not get to wear the final because of the accumulation of yellow cards, without his goal, Chelsea could not have been magically crowned, so it is not an exaggeration to say that Ramirez is a player who can be written in history.
After that, Ramirez also continued to have a good performance, playing steadily in the midfield, back, right midfield and even the winger position; His sweeping power and running momentum are even more impressive, so he has been named "Blue Kenyan". Unfortunately, he left Chelsea in January 2016 for the Chinese Super League, otherwise if he and Kante could form a midfield combination, the horror of his sweeping power would be unimaginable.
251 games, 34 goals, Ramirez's stats are not as bright as a legend; But his outstanding contribution against Barcelona over two legs has given him no less place in history than his predecessors. Without Ramirez, it would have been difficult for Chelsea to win the Big Ear Cup in 2012 and officially become the top European powerhouse.