What next for frozen out Aberdeen striker Christian Ramirez?
The United States international has fallen from goalscoring hero last season to not even making recent 20-man match squads.
It is a fall from grace signified by relinquishing the No.9 jersey to Bojan Miovski and being given No.99.
An expected summer transfer exit did not materialise for Ramirez.
Will ‘Superman’ rise again at Pittodrie or continue to be consigned to the sidelines until at least the January transfer window?
The answer ultimately lies within a combination of three protagonists – Ramirez, manager Jim Goodwin and in-form striker Bojan Miovski.
Will Goodwin give Ramirez , nicknamed Superman during his time at Minnesota, the game time and chance to resurrect his Pittodrie career?
If that happens will Ramirez take it?
And will in-form Miovski continue his impressive scoring form?
The first two scenarios will become moot if Miovski continues to bang in goals.
With Miovski looking capable of scoring in every game the future does not appear to be bright for Ramirez at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen are playing with a 4-2-3-1 and there is room for only one out and out striker.
Barring injury or suspension the North Macedonian striker looks like retaining that starting slot.
Surprise there was no summer exit
Which leaves Ramirez at best looking to make an impact in brief cameo roles as a substitute – if he gets back onto the bench.
Then try to impress when he can to, at the very least, force his way onto clubs’ radar for the January transfer window.
It is not an ideal scenario for an experienced goalscorer who held genuine aspirations of breaking back into the USA national team last season.
That is why it is surprising Ramirez did not leave the club, either on a loan or permanent deal, during the summer transfer window.
Aberdeen were prepared to listen to offers for Ramirez during the window.
Despite much speculation on a potential exit the window closed with the striker still in the building… but struggling to even get on the bench.
A summer exit would have given Ramirez the chance to secure regular football and also take his salary off the Dons’ wage bill.
‘The Dons want to beat Hearts, not help them’
Hearts reportedly enquired about the possibility of taking Ramirez on loan to Tynecastle for the season.
That was always a non-starter.
There is no way Aberdeen would loan a proven goalscorer to one of their main rivals in the battle for Europe.
In finishing third last season and reaching the Scottish Cup final, Hearts secured European group action until Christmas and a £3 million plus cash boost.
Aberdeen want that and are pushing to finish above the Edinburgh club this season.
The Dons want to beat Hearts, not help them.
The prospect of loaning the Tynecastle club a player with a track record of scoring in Scotland would have been ridiculous and reckless.
What if Ramirez scored 15 to 20 goals to fire Hearts to third spot ahead of Aberdeen?
Many reasons against Hearts loan
Ramirez to Hearts was not worth contemplating purely on a footballing level.
That is before even factoring in the optics of such a loan move, which would have been terrible.
It would have angered Dons supporters and needlessly tainted a strong transfer window on the final day.
Ramirez posted a cryptic message on transfer deadline day then appeared to delete his social media accounts.
⚽ Christian Ramirez scores from the penalty spot in yesterday's victory over Buckie Thistle. pic.twitter.com/T6VqmNNp2j
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) June 26, 2022
It would be understandable if the striker is frustrated.
Had the 31-year-old been the penalty taker and not Lewis Ferguson, now at Bologna, Ramirez would have smashed the 20-goal mark last season. No question.
He was undeniably Aberdeen’s star striker.
However that was then… this is now and Ramirez is struggling to even get on the bench, let alone start for the Reds.
There is little to suggest his exodus from the team-lines will not continue at Ross County in Dingwall on Saturday.
No Premiership goal since February
Ramirez has not scored in the Premiership since a 3-2 loss to Celtic in February.
He has not scored in the league under new manager Jim Goodwin.
This season he has played just 18 minutes in the opening five Premiership games.
Ramirez’s league goals dried up following the exit of Stephen Glass, the manager who signed him from Houston Dynamo last summer.
The optics of an early summer break
The saga with Ramirez began before the transfer window even opened.
Boss Goodwin let the striker return home to the United States early before the end of last season as he was showing signs of fatigue.
That early holiday was sanctioned to “recharge his batteries” because Ramirez had no summer break.
Although the extra week was offered, some players may have opted to remain at Pittodrie to see it out until the end of the season.
Ramirez’s return to the USA left Aberdeen without a striker for the final two games of a dreadful season where they finished a lowly 10th.
Such was the dearth of strikers in Ramirez’s absence, Goodwin had to field rookie centre-forward Michael Ruth for his first ever start in a 1-0 loss to St Johnstone.
Ruth was eventually released by the Dons soon after.
Ramirez cut a dejected and frustrated figure at the end of last season, kicking a water-bottle when substituted at Pittodrie.
Giving up the No.9 jersey for No.99
On his return from the summer break he netted three times in the Premier Sports Cup before marquee signing Miovski arrived at Pittodrie.
However those goals were against part-time clubs from League 1 and 2.
Ramirez should arguably have netted more than double that figure such was the number of clear opportunities he had.
He wore the No.9 jersey in those Premier Sports Cup group games.
On Miovski’s arrival the £535,000 summer signing took on that number.
Ramirez was given 99 – a very clear indicator of the new striking pecking order.
Aberdeen boss Goodwin’s explanation as to why Ramirez was not even on the bench for the 5-0 defeat of Livingston was also telling.
He said: “I can only pick 20 and Christian missed out.”
£535,000 investment in Miovski
An impressive transfer window by Goodwin and his recruitment team saw 11 signings secured at a cost of more than £1.5 million in transfer fees.
That rebuild appears to have solved the questions surrounding the defensive problems and lack of creativity that dogged last season.
However the question regarding Ramirez, which arose in the second half of last season, still lingers.
Goodwin recently confirmed that he has a “decent relationship” with Ramirez.
The challenge is there for Ramirez to knuckle down and force his way back into the match-squad and then into the team.
It will be extremely hard as Miovski looks, on early impressions, to be a talent that will inevitably go on to a higher level than Aberdeen.
Aberdeen have invested heavily in Miovski and he is delivering so far.
That is good for Goodwin, the Dons and the Red Army. Not for Ramirez.
‘Superman’ can rediscover powers
All Ramirez can do now is keep his head down, graft, stay positive and grab any chance that comes.
Ramirez has shown throughout his career that he is a battler.
He progressed up through levels of American football to reach the MLS and the international scene.
Trying to regain the main striker spot from Miovski will be one of the biggest challenges of his career.
By rising to the challenge he could also raise his profile and potentially engineer a move away in the January transfer window.
Ramirez bagged 15 goals in 45 appearances for Aberdeen last season – he is a scorer.
‘Superman’ memorably lost his powers in the 1980 film Superman II.
He eventually regained them.
Ramirez can rediscover his scoring powers. However that is unlikely to be at Aberdeen given Miovski’s impressive start for the Reds.
Which suggests Superman will likely get the chance to become a scoring hero at another club in January.
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