Stamford Bridge has been the home of some truly remarkable players, and Chelsea signed one of their most underrated individuals exactly 15 years ago.
Chelsea’s history is rich with so many legendary stars. Blues supporters will look up to past heroes such as Peter Osgood, Gianfranco Zola, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Eden Hazard, depending on their age.
John Obi Mikel once credited Michael Essien as one of Chelsea’s most underrated players. While we agree that he went under the radar for his ability, it’s a different Blues star whose move to West London was on this day many years ago.
Chelsea fans inside Stamford Bridge for a Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images
Chelsea signed Ramires exactly 15 years ago
On this day in 2010, Chelsea signed Brazilian midfielder Ramires, who spent six years at the club.
Chelsea paid around £17m (BBC) to sign Ramires, who was 23 at the time, from Benfica. On reflection, it turned out to be a genius deal because we rate him as one of the most underrated players in the Blues’ history.
The box-to-box central midfielder could do a bit of everything on the football pitch, showing such an incredible engine to get around the pitch during his peak years.
Appearances Goals Assists Yellow cards Red cards Trophies
251 34 18 48 4 5
The individual record of Ramires at Chelsea
Of course, the crowning moment in his Blues career was scoring a magical chipped goal during the famous Champions League semi-final against Barcelona in 2012, which paved the way for them to eventually win Europe’s elite club competition for the first time.
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Earlier this year, Ramires admitted Chelsea fans still discuss his goal against Barcelona whenever he meets them.
Ramires scoring for Chelsea against Barcelona in the Champions League.
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Ramires recently compared himself to Enzo Fernandez
We have no doubt that a prime Ramires, who retired from professional football in 2020, would be a huge addition to the current Chelsea squad.
Interestingly, speaking last month, Ramires compared himself to Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez. He said: “The current team has a lot of talent, but I really like Enzo Fernandez, perhaps because I see in him a style similar to mine, with grit, strong tackling, and arriving in attack.”
In fairness, Enzo Maresca’s squad does look pretty stacked with talent in the centre of the park.
As well as Fernandez, the Blues also have the likes of Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo and Andrey Santos competing for starting positions in central midfield.