Ramires

[DavidEU 2,023]

Ramires completed his move to Chelsea on 13th August 2010, on a four year contract for a reported fee of £17m.

Upon his arrival at Chelsea, he said:

"Every player in the world would love to play for Chelsea and it's a great opportunity that was given to me, I will give my best to repay this chance, and I am very happy... I have seen most of the facilities and it is really impressive. I believe what you have here is everything and a little bit more that every player needs to do well. I know I haven't seen everything but with a little time I will get to know everything and I am sure I will be very happy here.

"Just to think that I will wear Chelsea's shirt is a dream come true for any player. I know it is a very strong, competitive league but I just hope that I can adapt as fast and as well as I can to give my best, and I am sure everything is going to be fine."

Ramires made his debut against Stoke City on 28 August 2010 in the Premier League, coming on as a substitute for Michael Essien in the 85th minute. On 11 September 2010, he made his full Premier League debut, starting against West Ham United. He also started in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Arsenal on 3 October 2010, winning possession and then putting Ashley Cole through to cross to Didier Drogba for Chelsea's first goal. Ramires went on to establish himself in the starting line-up, and scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 4-0 win against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium. Ramires settled into English football in the second half of the season, putting in a string of energetic and consistent performances. In March he scored a sublime goal to seal a 2-0 victory against Manchester City, dropping a shoulder and beating three defenders before finishing confidently. The strike was later voted "Goal of the Season" by Chelsea fans. Ramires was sent off for two bookable offences in Chelsea's Champions League Quarter Final defeat against Manchester United, but overall his first season in England was a personal success, having cemented his place in the side and made 41 appearances in all competitions.

The 2011-12 season was tempestuous even by the standards of Chelsea's recent history, but Ramires was one of the stand-out performers throughout the season, scoring 12 goals in 47 appearances and providing exceptional energy and stamina in the Blues' midfield. Having established himself as a key player during his first season in England the Brazilian international was a regular starter under new manager André Villas-Boas.

He scored his first goals of the season in late September, scoring a brace against newly-promoted Swansea City in a 4-1 win. A knee injury kept him out briefly in October but he returned to help Chelsea qualify as group winners in the UEFA Champions League, with goals against Genk and Valencia. In the New Year he scored another brace, this time against Portsmouth in the FA Cup 3rd Round, but an injury sustained in the next round would keep him out for three weeks. In early March, just a couple of days after André Villas-Boas had been sacked as manager, it was announced that Ramires had signed a new contract that would keep him at the club until 2017. Despite the poor run of results that had lost Villas-Boas his job, Chelsea remained in contention in the remaining cup competitions, and Ramires contributed to the Blues reaching both the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals. In the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur he scored the third goal, killing off the North London side, with Chelsea eventually winning 5-1. In the Champions League semi-finals against Barcelona he was even more influential, setting up Didier Drogba for the only goal of the 1st leg before scoring with a beautifully taken chip to put Chelsea back in contention in first half injury time in the 2nd leg, the Blues having been 2-0 down on the night and down to 10 men as half time approached. Chelsea eventually drew the match 2-2 to progress 3-2 on aggregate, but Ramires picked up a booking that would rule him out of the final. In the FA Cup final he scored after 11 minutes following a trademark driving run to put Chelsea 1-0 up against Liverpool in a match they would eventually win 2-1; Ramires' first trophy at the club. A second followed two weeks later as Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League for the first time, despite the Brazilian's absence through suspension. One of the outstanding players of Chelsea's season, and also scoring crucial goals at crucial times, Ramires was one of the final three candidates for Player of the Year, but ultimately lost out to Juan Mata. He was voted Players' Player of the Year however; his team-mates fully acknowledging the enormous contribution he had made to Chelsea's success.

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[Term-X 7,891]

The future of brazil, the future of chelsea.

[Luke 60]

Awesome!

[Randall 315]

Kaka loves him and I love him. What more does he need!

[Term-X 7,891]

Ancelotti was quizzed today on what Ramires may bring to his Chelsea team.

"He is more of a European player, he is very dynamic and he can play in all the midfield positions," he said. "He is a hammer. He doesn't have a problem to run and to keep a good tempo."

[Miguelito 459]

absolutely lovely, looking forward to him helping us retain the premier league and win the champions league finnally (hopefully). he will speed up our midfield and give us another dimension. excellent signing and next one neymar and we will be good

[Rambo 1,729]

23 years old of age.

[Manuf 1,448]

I can see him become fan favourite and Stamford legend

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Ancelotti was quizzed today on what Ramires may bring to his Chelsea team.

"He is more of a European player, he is very dynamic and he can play in all the midfield positions," he said. "He is a hammer. He doesn't have a problem to run and to keep a good tempo."

That'll be his nickname then, The Hammer.

[Manuf 1,448]

Midfield of Hammer and Bison. Damn! I wouldn't like to run into them!

[caesarblues 51]

Alex to Ram

I was talking with Jose Bosingwa and we were saying how Ramires is a lot like Michael Essien,' said Alex.

'He's not as strong as Essien but he has the same style on the pitch. He goes forward very quickly, then he comes back and marks very well. He is a very good player.'

Alex added that he expects Ramires, who has been handed the No 7 shirt at Chelsea, to boost the Blues' goal threat from midfield.

'It is very important for me and the team that the midfielders go to shoot and arrive at the goal but then get back to mark.

Force: Essien is back in the Blues midfield after an injury absence last term

'He is almost the same as Michael Essien like that, so I am expecting a lot of goals, it is important for us.

'He will get to play with Michael Essien, John Mikel Obi and Frank Lampard, we have a very good midfield group and he will do a great job for us.'

[zolayes 14,489]

hope to see him get last 30mins on saturday

[DavidEU 2,023]

[caesarblues 51]

Top 10 things you need to know about Ramires plus watch him in action

By Steve Anglesey in Football Banter-Mirror Football-

The Benfica star will cost Chelsea £18.3million, but what do we know about him?

1) A tireless box-to-box runner, midfielder Ramires was nicknamed the Blue Kenyan by fans at his old club Cruzeiro - a reference to their club colours and the player's famed endurance, as well as his distinctive looks.

2) Born near Rio in March 1987, Ramires began his football career as a left back. He travelled south to become a pro, signing for Division Three Joinville in 2005. He must have had a whale of a time in the business-oriented city settled by German immigrants in the 1820s - the guidebooks describe it as having "the atmosphere of a rather dull, small town in Germany".

3) Ramires moved to Belo Horizonte - where England famously lost 1-0 to the USA in the 1950 World Cup - in 2007 to join Cruzeiro. He moved on to Benfica last May - and got his first Brazil call-up on the same day - so Chelsea would be his third club in little over a year.

4) More a provider of chances than a taker of them, Ramires' goal record is nothing to write home about. This might explain why:

5) But he did manage to bag a couple of second half goals in Brazil's World Cup warm-up win against Tanzania, having been brought into Dunga's side for the previous year's Confederations Cup.

6) Despite being an ever-present in that Confederations Cup, Ramires slipped behind Felipe Melo in Dunga's plans for South Africa. He then reclaimed his place in the round of 16 defeat of Chile but a booking, coupled with one he received in the opener against North Korea, ruled him out of the fateful quarter-final against Holland in which Melo touched in Wesley Sneijder's cross for the equaliser and then was sent off for stamping on Arjen Robben.

7) Ramires earned a Capello Index rating of 62.9 during Brazil's 3-0 win against Chile - slightly less than midfilder partner Gilberto Silva on 63.03 but considerably more than the 55.88 rating of some bum called Kaka.

8) Although he's not yet part of Brazil's illustrious World Cup history, Ramires does already have an international medal to his name. He was part of the squad that won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

9) Like his international team-mate Kaka, Ramires belongs to Jesus... Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, that is. His attacking style led the club to a league and cup double last season, bringing tens of thousands of The Arsenalistas - their familiar-sounding fanbase - onto the streets of Lisbon where Ramires partied with clubmate David Luiz, a Manchester City transfer target this summer.

10) Outstanding in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals against Liverpool last season, Ramires nevertheless spurned a great headed chance that would have sent the Portuguese side to Anfield with a two-goal advantage. He was less effective as Benfica lost the second leg 4-1, but did win the free kick which temporarily made it 4-3 on aggregate before Fernando Torres settled matters.

[zolayes 14,489]

Top 10 things you need to know about Ramires plus watch him in action

By Steve Anglesey in Football Banter-Mirror Football-

The Benfica star will cost Chelsea £18.3million, but what do we know about him?

good read thanks

[chrismada9 1,948]

Really Really REALLY can't wait to see this kid play!

[BomTrett 50]

I'm hoping he'll be at least be on the bench for Stoke? I assume he will be, will be nice to see him in action

[BLionheart 516]

if this is true , if he turns out to be the next bison then other teams will literally shit their pants before playing us