Columbus Crew acquires forward Christian Ramirez from Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen F.C. 

COLUMBUS – Columbus Crew today announced that it has acquired forward Christian Ramirez from Aberdeen F.C. of the Scottish Premiership. The 31-year-old will be added to the Black & Gold roster pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate. Ramirez joins the Crew for an undisclosed transfer fee through the 2024 season with an option for 2025.

“Christian is an experienced player who has shown the ability to score goals throughout his career,” said Columbus Crew President & General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko. “His addition to our roster will provide additional depth and strengthen our corps of attacking players, and we are looking forward to having Christian and his family join us in Columbus.”

Ramirez comes to the Black & Gold after most recently spending the 2021-23 seasons with Aberdeen. While in Scotland, he scored 10 league goals in 45 appearances. Ramirez additionally scored three goals in six UEFA Europa Conference League matches and three goals in Scottish League Cup action. 

The Garden Grove, Calif., native began his professional career with Charlotte Eagles of the USL Pro in 2013, where he scored 12 goals in 26 matches. 

In 2014, he joined Minnesota United, then of the North American Soccer League. That year, he captured the NASL Golden Boot with 20 goals, scoring eight more than the runner-up. Two seasons later, Ramirez was again crowned NASL Golden Boot winner, scoring 18 goals in 2016. A three-time NASL Best XI honoree (2014, 2015, 2016), Ramirez holds the club record for appearances (95) and goals (53). Ramirez signed with Minnesota United prior to the start of their inaugural MLS season in 2017. From 2017-18, he appeared in 50 total matches, scoring 21 goals and adding five assists. 

Ramirez joined LAFC via trade in August of 2018 and scored six goals and added two assists from 2018-19. In August of 2019, he joined the Houston Dynamo where he scored eight goals and tallied three assists from 2019-21 prior to departing for Scotland. 

Ramirez has earned two caps for the U.S. Men’s National Team and scored his first international goal in his debut, a 3-0 victory over Panama on Jan. 27, 2019. 

Crew players are currently in South Florida for the first trip of the preseason, where the Black & Gold will train in Port St. Lucie from Jan. 16-27. The Crew returns to Columbus and will train in-market from Jan. 28 – Feb. 5, before heading to Fort Lauderdale for the second trip of the preseason (Feb. 6-18).    

The Black & Gold are set to open the 2023 MLS season on the road against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, Feb. 25 and hosts D.C. United for the home opener at Lower.com Field on Saturday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET.   

Single-game tickets are now on-sale for the general public and are available here.   

Soccer fans looking to experience Crew matches have a number of options as Season Ticket Membership for the 2023 season, which are currently on sale, includes benefits such as a subscription to Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass, exclusive, member-only events, a discount at the Crew Shop, monthly, interest free payment plans, the ability to purchase discounted parking, pre-sale access to all events at Lower.com Field, Historic Crew Stadium and FirstEnergy Stadium, and a dedicated account manager and service representative. Fans interested in purchasing Season Ticket Memberships are encouraged to call 614-447-2739, email seasontickets@columbuscrew.com, or visit www.columbuscrew.com/tickets/memberships to get connected with a Season Ticket Member representative.

The updated roster currently stands at 25 players for the Black & Gold, and is listed alphabetically by position below:  

Goalkeepers (4): Evan Bush, Eloy Room, Patrick Schulte, Brady Scott  

Defenders (9): Milos Degenek, Mo Farsi, Keegan Hughes, Jimmy Medranda, Jonathan Mensah, Steven Moreira, Jake Morris, Will Sands, Josh Williams  

Midfielders (9): Luis Diaz, Kevin Molino, Alex Matan, Aidan Morris, Darlington Nagbe, Isaiah Parente, Yaw Yeboah, Sean Zawadzki, Lucas Zelarayan  

Forwards (3): Cucho Hernandez, Christian Ramirez, Jacen Russell-Rowe  

TRANSACTION: Columbus Crew acquires forward Christian Ramirez for an undisclosed transfer fee from Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen F.C. on Jan. 18, 2023. His contract with the Club will run through the 2024 season with an option for 2025.

Name: Christian Ramirez

Position: Forward

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 187 lbs.

Born: April 4, 1991, in Santa Ana, Calif. 

Hometown: Garden Grove, Calif. 

Citizenship: United States

Acquired: Transferred to Columbus Crew on January 18, 2023

Previous Experience: Aberdeen (2021-2023), Houston Dynamo (2019-21), Los Angeles FC (2018-29), Minnesota United (2017-18), Minnesota United (NASL) (2014-16), Charlotte Eagles (2013)