Columbus Crew acquires striker Cristian Ramirez from Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen

Columbus – Columbus Crew announced today that it has acquired striker Cristian Ramirez from Aberdeen Football Club of the Scottish Premier League. The 31-year-old will be added to the Black & Gold list pending receipt of his international transfer certificate. Ramirez joins the crew for an undisclosed transfer fee during the 2024 season, with an option for 2025.

“Christian is an experienced player who has demonstrated the ability to score goals throughout his career,” said Columbus Crew President and General Manager Tim Bezpachenko. “Adding him to our roster will provide added depth and strengthen our team of offensive players, and we look forward to having Christian and his family join us in Columbus.”

Ramirez came to the black and gold having recently spent the 2021-23 seasons with Aberdeen. While in Scotland, he scored 10 league goals in 45 appearances. Ramirez has also scored three goals in six matches in the Europa League, and three goals in the Scottish League Cup.

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

In 2014, he joined Minnesota United, then in the North American Soccer League. That year, he captured the NASL Golden Boot with 20 goals, scoring eight more goals than the runner-up. Two seasons later, Ramirez was again crowned the NASL Golden Boot, scoring 18 goals in 2016. Ramirez has been named Best XI three times (2014, 2015, 2016), and holds the club record for appearances (95) and goals (53). ). Ramirez signed with Minnesota United before the start of the inaugural MLS season in 2017. From 2017 to 2018, he appeared in 50 total matches, scoring 21 goals and adding five assists.

Ramirez joined LAFC via trade in August 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 recorded three assists from 2019-21 before leaving for Scotland.

Ramírez made two caps for the US men’s national team and scored his first international goal on his debut, a 3-0 win over Panama on January 27, 2019.

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

The Black and Gold are set to open the 2023 MLS season on the road against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, February 25th and host D.C. United in the opener at Lower.com Field on Saturday, March 4th at 7:30PM ET.

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

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

There are currently 25 updated players in Black & Gold, and they are listed alphabetically by position below:

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