Ramires

Ramires Santos do Nascimento (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʁaˈmiɾes ˈsɐ̃tuz du nasiˈmẽtu]; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-box midfielder role because of his energy in supporting defensive and attacking play.

Ramires began his career playing for Royal Sport Club, at Barra do Piraí, 114 km north-west of Rio de Janeiro. In 2005, he signed for Joinville, before joining Cruzeiro, with whom he spent just over two seasons, appearing in 61 league matches and scoring 10 times. In 2009, Ramires moved to Portugal and signed for Benfica. He spent one season with Benfica in which he helped them to the Primeira Liga title and Taça da Liga. He then joined English club Chelsea in the summer of 2010 and won every major domestic and European competition with them. In January 2016, Ramires signed for Jiangsu Suning for £25 million.

Ramires is a former Brazilian international, making his debut on 6 June 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Uruguay. He was in the teams which won the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics. As well being a member of the Brazil national team for the 2010 World Cup, 2011 Copa América and 2014 World Cup, he was capped 52 times.

In January 2008, Ramires agreed to a five-year deal with Cruzeiro in a permanent move from Joinville for a $300,000 transfer fee following a loan period, giving Cruzeiro 70% of the player's economic rights. Joinville kept 30% in the event of any transfers in the future. He was referred to by the fans and media during his time there as the "Queniano Azul", or "Blue Kenyan", due to Cruzeiro's blue kit and his endurance, which was considered reminiscent of Kenyan runners, who are famous for winning many Brazilian running marathons.

On 21 May 2009, Ramires joined Portuguese club Benfica for a €7.5 million transfer fee on a five-year contract with a minimum fee release of €30 million. He starred as an important player for Benfica throughout the season, as the Portuguese club won their 32nd league title after a five-year wait. In his first and only season with Benfica, Ramires also won the Taça da Liga, defeating Porto 3–0. In June 2010, Benfica sold 50% of Ramires' economic rights to English player agency Jazzy Limited, directed by Kia Joorabchian, for €6 million.

On 4 August 2010, Benfica announced they had agreed a deal with defending English Premier League champions Chelsea and his third-party owner for €22 million. He completed his move to Chelsea on 13 August, signing a four-year contract. He was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Ukrainian international Andriy Shevchenko.

On 28 August 2010, Ramires made his debut for Chelsea against Stoke City in the Premier League; he came on as an 84th minute substitute for Michael Essien as Chelsea won 2–0. On 11 September 2010, he made his full Premier League debut, starting against West Ham United at Upton Park, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–3 win. He started in Chelsea's 2–0 win over Arsenal on 3 October 2010, winning possession and then putting Ashley Cole through to cross to Didier Drogba for Chelsea's first goal.

On 29 December 2010, Ramires started in Chelsea's 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers, where his performance was praised and was known to have his best game with Chelsea to date, where he made several runs forward and strong tackles winning the ball several times in the midfield. On Chelsea's return fixture at Bolton, Ramires scored his first goal as a Chelsea player in a 0–4 victory at Reebok Stadium. On 15 January 2011, he played the full 90 minutes against Blackburn Rovers in a 2–0 win at Stamford Bridge. On 1 March, he started and played the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 league win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.