Columbus Crew acquire forward Christian Ramirez from Scottish Premiership's Aberdeen
Former Minnesota United forward Christian Ramirez is set to return to MLS as a member of the Crew.
Ramirez will transfer from Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership to the Crew on a two-year contract through 2024 with a club option for 2025. The Crew paid an undisclosed transfer fee for Ramirez.
Steven Goff of the Washington Post was the first to report the deal had been completed. Ramirez is the second signing for the Crew since preseason training began, after the club signed homegrown center back Keegan Hughes last Wednesday.
“Christian is an experienced player who has shown the ability to score goals throughout his career,” general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in a statement. “His addition to our roster will provide additional depth and strengthen our corps of attacking players, and we are looking forward to having Christian and his family join us in Columbus.”
Ramirez most recently played in MLS for the Houston Dynamo before being transferred to Aberdeen in June 2021. He made his European debut in July 2021, scoring a goal in his first game, and totaled 18 goals and five assists in 50 games during his time in Scotland.
After starting 33 of Aberdeen's 36 games last season, Ramirez has made just one start and nine appearances for the club this season, and the limited usage eventually led to his return to MLS. The 31-year-old forward has 35 goals and 10 assists in 105 career MLS games since beginning his career with Minnesota United when the club began play in MLS in 2017; he played for the NASL version of Minnesota United prior to the expansion.
Ramirez was traded to LAFC in 2018 and scored six goals in 24 appearances for LAFC. While with LAFC, Ramirez made his first appearance for the U.S. Men's National Team and scored his first USMNT goal in a friendly against Panama in January 2019. He has been capped twice by the USMNT.
After two seasons in Los Angeles, Ramirez was traded to Houston, where he played two-plus seasons before being transferred to Aberdeen.
With the Crew, Ramirez is expected to provide depth behind striker Cucho Hernandez and will compete with second-year forward Jacen Russell-Rowe. After acquiring Ramirez, the Crew have 25 of 30 roster spots filled for the 2023 season.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew sign Christian Ramirez, American forward
