It is a case of now or never for Christian Ramirez after taking the plunge and committing himself to playing outside the United States for the first time.
The 30-year-old, who has played all his club football in his homeland, has taken on a new challenge of leading the line for Aberdeen in Scotland.
Opportunities have come his way before to play outside the United States but have failed to come to fruition, but when the chance to move to the Dons came his way he knew this was a chance he simply could not turn down.
The former Houston Dynamo striker said: “I honestly did not think an opportunity like this would come my way in my career anymore. I had passed on so many opportunities to go to Liga Mx (in Mexico), but things didn’t work out for one reason or another.
“I have dreamed of playing abroad and, when my agent brought me this opportunity, it was something that was surreal.
“My aunt who passed away two years ago always said I would one day play in Europe and it was a calling which I felt I needed to chase.
“My family are excited. My wife at first was a bit sceptical, but once we sat down and talked they were on board and her message was: ‘wherever you go we go, we support you and we’ll look back and say remember when we made Aberdeen home?’
“When I spoke to the staff, the project they are presenting here, the direction the club is going, it is something I really wanted to be a part of.”
The excitement at playing in a new country is clear to see from the new Aberdeen attacker who gave his first interview as a Don to the club’s website.
Speaking on RedTV, Ramirez, who has elite sporting exemption status to leave his flat to join his new team-mates for training at Cormack Park, is anxious to get his new campaign up and running with Aberdeen.
He said: “It’s surreal. I was so anxious on the flight I didn’t get to sleep. I’m running on adrenaline right now, although I’ll have the weekend to adjust.
“I’m still trying to get names and faces because of face masks around the building and when you get outside I’m trying to put numbers to faces, but the guys have been really welcoming.
“The flat I’m in here is all I can see for the next 10 days, but I’m excited to be here. The group has been really welcoming, they have a good bond, so it’s been good.”
The importance of having that bond, not just with his team-mates but with the supporters, is a quality Ramirez prides himself on.
The Dons have been inundated with good wishes from the Californian’s former clubs in Houston, Los Angeles and in particular Minnesota, and he is eager to build that same strong relationship with the Aberdeen fans.
He said: “I’ve built a good relationship with fans wherever I’ve gone. Minnesota was a special place in my five years there. I haven’t been back to the stadium they say I helped build and it something which has really stuck with me.
“They’ve been messaging saying we will need to get an international friendly lined up, so we’ll see if we can work something out.
“I can’t wait to meet the fans here. I’ve been sitting in a room watching YouTube videos of how loud the stadium gets and I can’t wait to play in front of everyone.
“I think of myself as someone who throws themselves all in. I want to dive into the culture, I want to learn about the city, learn about the club. It makes you feel better and makes you feel part of the history and it will be something special.”
Ramirez will get the chance to adjust to British Summer Time this weekend, but it seems the Aberdeen accent may take a bit of getting used to if his first day on Thursday is anything to go by.
He said: “If you can tell some of the guys to slow down when they speak that will be helpful. Doug (Raitt, porter at Cormack Park), who picked me up, I was confused about what was going on.
“I just laughed all the time in the car as I didn’t know what to say or what was going on so I’ll tell Doug to slow down a little bit.”
https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/eveningexpress/fp/sport/football/aberdeen-fc/donsnews/gallery-the-best-images-from-christian-ramirezs-first-day-training-with-aberdeen-at-cormack-park/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.