For many Women's Super League teams, losing a player as influential as striker Sam Kerr to injury would be a huge blow. But it is not like that for Chelsea. The winners of the Emma Hayes Double have plenty of options up front and have now increased them with the world record €450,000 signing of Levante star Mayra Ramírez.
What the 24-year-old Colombia international offers is one of the things Hayes values so much at Chelsea: adaptability. Possessing the ability to play anywhere in the forward line, Ramirez will likely be used as a number 9 forward to help fill the void left by Kerr's ACL injury, but can also fill the number 10 midfield role. , or play wide.
Ramírez is a proven goalscorer and found the back of the net 14 times in 27 league games for Levante last season. This season he has had problems with injuries, but he has still managed six goals in seven games with the second-placed team in the F League.
Her true strength, which she has demonstrated for both Levante and Colombia (especially at the 2023 Women's World Cup), is her selfless link-up play. In fact, while all eyes were on teenage sensation Linda Caicedo during Colombia's run to the quarterfinals, Ramírez's ability to mesh with veteran Catalina Usme proved particularly important.
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At club level, that ability to come in and connect with Natasa Andonova and Alba Redondo has helped Levante a lot. Yes, Ramírez is strong on the ball, especially good at protecting it and maintaining possession, but she is also light on her feet and able to touch deftly. In fact, many of her attacking qualities overlap with those of her new Chelsea teammates: such as the strength we have seen in Mia Fishel as she advances, the quick feet of Lauren James or Fran Kirby's ability to protect the ball .
Ramirez is likely to trade time with American star Fishel as the No. 9 forward before another USWNT team member, Catarina Macario, makes a full return from the ACL injury that kept her out since the final day of the 2021 season. 22. But what about James or Kirby?
Not only are Chelsea competing for the WSL title this season, they are also in the knockout stage of the Women's Champions League and will also play Conti Cup and FA Cup matches in February. To go far in all of these competitions, several attacking options are required, and Hayes will surely need to resort to all of them.
In the 3-1 win over Manchester United in the WSL last weekend, Fishel played the first half as a centre-forward, but James stole the show with a hat-trick and was promoted after the break. Hayes praised the England international's overall performance, but James is not the natural answer to Chelsea's surprising conundrum.
Indeed, after the Blues beat Real Madrid 2-1 on Wednesday night in the Women's Champions League, Hayes said: “We all know Lauren James is a natural No. 10.”
So, with James pulling the strings from midfield and free to float around the pitch as he pleases, Kirby, who has “more natural central tendencies”, according to Hayes, is another option for the No 9 role. On the sidelines, Hayes can choose between Kirby, Guro Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd. Or bringing Aggie Beever-Jones off the bench and pushing Sjoeke Nüsken into a more advanced role. The possibilities are endless, although it begs the question of where exactly will Macario play when he returns? Chelsea are always better when they can overload the opponent. The team's fluidity allows them to try different ways of unlocking defences, but what has proven particularly effective, with players like Ashley Lawrence and Niamh Charles moving forward from full-back positions, is having a more natural centre-forward, someone who can occupy the centre-backs or run towards the defense and offer a passing option. That's one of the areas where we'll likely see Ramirez thrive. She is a player with fantastic potential and, despite the record transfer fee, we may look back and think what a bargain she was at the time. Hayes will leave for the USWNT role this summer, but has spent her time at Chelsea innovating, developing and evolving her team, strengthening it at every opportunity. Even with his impending departure, he is still trying to get the team to the best place possible for the person taking over. The financial backing of Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has certainly helped and while he has been happy to spend £1bn on men's players over the last three windows, we know that won't carry over to the women's team in the same way. Still, with a high-profile move for Ramirez, Boehly clearly believes the women's team is worth investing in and that's a scary thought for their WSL rivals.
