Mayra Ramirez: Chelsea set to sign Levante striker for club-record fee after Sam Kerr's ACL injury
Mayra Ramirez has impressed at Levante, scoring six goals in seven league games this season after netting 14 times last term; Chelsea have been keen on signing a striker after Sam Kerr suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury earlier this month
Tuesday 23 January 2024 15:46, UK
Chelsea Women are close to signing Colombia striker Mayra Ramirez for a club-record fee.
The 24-year-old has impressed at Levante, scoring six goals in seven league games this season after netting 14 times last term.
Chelsea have been keen on signing a striker in this window after Sam Kerr suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during a warm weather training camp in Morocco earlier this month.
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Ramirez is set to become Chelsea's most expensive signing, surpassing the £250,000 fee paid for Pernille Harder from Wolfsburg in 2020.
The 24-year-old has made 30 appearances for Colombia and helped her country reach the 2023 Women's World Cup quarter-finals where they were beaten by eventual runners-up England.
She is expected to replace Kerr, who has been a talismanic figure for the Blues, scoring 58 times in 73 WSL games across four and a half seasons and twice winning the top flight's Golden Boot during that time.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes had told reporters last week there was enough quality within her squad to replace the Australia striker before Lauren James hit a hat-trick on Saturday in a 3-1 win over Manchester United.
The Blues are set to recoup a significant amount of Ramirez's fee by allowing senior player Jessie Fleming to leave for around £250,000 to sign for Portland Thorns, as first reported by The Telegraph.
Analysis: Strange for Kerr to have no further part in Hayes' final season
Sky Sports' Charlotte Marsh:
"For the most part, Chelsea have avoided the glut of ACL injuries that have plagued other teams around them, especially at Arsenal and Manchester United recently. But now, they have lost one of their most important players to the dreaded knee injury.
"It means Kerr, who has been synonymous with Hayes' success at Chelsea over the last few years, won't be able to help the team win the trophies that would send the manager out on a high.
"The Champions League remains the one trophy Hayes hasn't won with the Blues, and Kerr has already scored five goals in four European games this season. She has been a key part of Chelsea's progress so far and it seems strange that if the Blues are to finally win the trophy, Kerr will have no further part.
"Add to that their defence of the WSL and FA Cup, plus their bid for another Conti Cup title, it's set to be a hectic final four months of the season and a less than ideal moment to lose a player of such quality.
"Kerr missed much of Australia's World Cup campaign last summer with injury and needed further recovery heading into the new campaign.
"But she has started in seven of her eight WSL appearances, with four goals and three assists, showing just how pivotal she remains to Chelsea's play, even when not at her free-scoring best.
"In the absence of another injured player - Blues captain Millie Bright - Kerr has taken on the captain's armband and they miss her leadership at the top end of the pitch."
