Club News: Former Chelsea midfielder Ramires announces retirement
Former Chelsea midfielder Ramires has announced his retirement from professional football. The 35-year-old announced this news on his social media and thanked all the clubs that he played for.
The midfielder joined the Blues in the summer of 2010 from Portuguese side SL Benfica for £18.2 million. The then 23-year-old was allowed to join the west London club after the player was granted a work permit by a tribunal.
He was given the work permit under special circumstances clause as the midfielder had not played the required 75% of games for Brazil over the past two years then.
Ramires would go on to become an instant hit at Stamford Bridge. The 35-year-old won the Premier League title in his first season at the club under Carlo Ancelotti, the manager who signed him for Chelsea.
He would then go on to play a very vital role for the Blues in their Champions League winning season of 2011/12. The midfielder is famously remembered for the goal he scored against Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the semi-final win against them.
The Blues were 2-0 down after having won the first leg 1-0 at home. Ramires was played through by Frank Lampard and he simply went and chipped Victor Valdes inside their box. Chelsea would ultimately win the game in injury time when Fernando Torres would finish a counter-attack goal by rounding the keeper and sending us to the final.
Ramires went on to make 251 appearances for the club, scoring 34 goals and assisting another 25 in the process, in all competitions. The Brazilian international also won several trophies including the Champions League and Europa League in back-to-back seasons.
The midfielder also won the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup during his six glorious years at the Bridge before leaving for Jiangsu Suning in 2016. He joined Palmeiras in 2019, which is the last club he played for before retirement.
The FIFA World Cup in 2014 was the last major tournament he represented Brazil in. He earned 51 senior caps for Brazil, with the international friendly against Ecuardor in September 2014 being his last appearance in international colours.
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A fan favourite, his retirement will bring back all the happy memories about him in the minds of the fans. A hero at Chelsea, we hope that he has a very good retirement.