Mayra Ramírez is a Colombian international striker who has just moved to Chelsea in late January on a four-and-a-half-year deal, coming from the Spanish side Levante where she has been playing since the summer of 2022.
It is also worth noting that the 24-year-old has already reached 30 senior caps for the national Colombian team and has been a key player for her country since 2018, having participated in most big continental and international competitions, such as the 2022 Copa América Femenina when Colombia reached the final and the 2023 Women’s World Cup during which they reached the quarter-finals.
The 24-year-old was the team’s striker on key occasions, notably in the quarter-finals game against England, where she impressed a lot of followers of the game, especially with how she dealt with duels against players like Alex Greenwood, Rachel Daly and Keira Walsh.
Ramírez began her footballing career at Real Pasión in 2015, before joining Fortaleza CEIF in 2017 and subsequently Independiente Medellín in the Colombian league.
It was during her time at Independiente Medellín that she attracted the interest of Spanish club Sporting de Huelva.
The latter signed the player in 2020, giving her her first opportunity in Europe, in general, and in Liga F, in particular.
Afterwards, it did not take Ramírez more than two years to attract the attention of one of the Spanish league’s best teams, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid, as she was able to make the switch to Levante in the summer of 2022.
She, therefore, showcased her attacking prowess by scoring 32 goals in 95 games in the Primera División over the past four years.
It should be noted that Mayra Ramírez became the first Colombian player to represent the Blues, as she is also the Womens Super Leagues most expensive player at the moment, following a record signing for a transfer fee that globally equals $544,000.
Although this could put extra pressure on Ramírez’s shoulders, it can give her even more confidence in her abilities and push her to give her best to help Chelsea reach their seasonal and long-term objectives (lifting the WSL title and winning the UWCL mainly).
In this Mayra Ramírez scout report, we will explore Ramírez’s attacking traits and what characterises her in terms of finishing and physical abilities, while studying her ability to fit into Chelsea Women’s tactics.
The analysis will also attempt to compare Ramírez and Sam Kerr’s abilities, as the signing of the Colombian international was primarily driven by the need for a replacement for Kerr following the latter’s recent anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Mayra Ramírez Attacking Traits
Ramírez is a striker who has played left and right winger numerous times.
Therefore, she is accustomed to moving to different parts of the attacking zone as she can occupy all attacking positions.
According to Paul Green, “Mayra is a dynamic forward who can play anywhere across the front line”.
This being said, Ramírez will mainly be playing in Kerr’s position, which is also Ramírez’s natural position since that’s the ideal position for the Colombian forward, and that’s where she gets the opportunity to play at her best.
She possesses the physical abilities necessary to replace a player like Sam Kerr in the best ways, given that she wins 41.7% of duels on average and 40.8% in aerial duels.
Although these statistics can be improved, it should be said that Ramírez is challenging to beat in 1v1 situations, especially when having the ball.
The fact that she is aware of this physical advantage helps her a lot in winning duels and dribbling with more confidence than the rest of the players, with an actual 51.3% dribbling rate at the moment.
Moreover, Ramírez can be extremely dangerous when playing with her back towards goal and having defenders pressing high on her.
The 24-year-old can deal well with such situations; she impressively resists defenders’ physical disturbance and can quickly turn and escape marking after initially controlling and protecting the ball.
Therefore, she can reliably interpret the role of a stationary striker while being a speedy player simultaneously, combining the roles of a stationary striker and a pacy one at the same time.
The following example shows a perfect example of how dangerous the Colombian star can be when getting the ball in such situations.
She could get the ball, protect it and resist her marker’s disturbance using her physical strength before turning quickly and running towards the goalkeeper, dribbling past her and scoring a beautiful goal using her left foot.
In addition to being extremely efficient in terms of pace and physical strength, she is also very good at jumping high and winning aerial duels.
Mayra Ramírez deals with crosses in a very useful way that can suit Chelsea Women’s style of play a lot since she can do precisely what Kerr does when receiving crosses.
She frees herself from marking and usually puts a suitable impact on the ball with powerful headers, enabling her to score.
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