Former Aberdeen striker Christian Ramirez has opened up on his ‘frustration’ during the final months of his time at Pittodrie.
Ramirez fell out of favour under former Dons boss Jim Goodwin and exited the club in January to sign for Columbus Crew in the United States.
United States international Ramirez netted a double on Columbus Crew debut in a 6-1 MLS defeat of Atlanta United at the weekend.
Following that Man-of-the-Match debut Ramirez lifted the lid on the frustrating end to an Aberdeen career that began so positively.
Christian Ramirez was Aberdeen FC’s top scorer
Ramirez was Aberdeen’s top scorer last season with 15 goals under then boss Stephen Glass.
However, the goals dried up when Glass was sacked in February 2022.
Ramirez also found game time limited under Glass’ replacement Goodwin with just one Premiership start this season.
The 31-year-old fell-down the pecking order at Aberdeen following the signing of strikers Bojan Miovski and Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes last summer.
Miovski has scored 17 goals this season with Duk bagging 15.
Ramirez said: “For anyone who’s followed my journey, the last 10 months have been really frustrating for myself and the situation that I was in.
“But I continued to have belief in myself and continued to work hard.
“Then I was blessed with this opportunity and had a random injury that was really frustrating the last month.
“I just stuck to the process and I was more frustrated because it’s probably been five years since I was hurt.
“I’m happy that I beat the timeline that I was given before.”
Columbus debut delayed by injury
Ramirez signed for Columbus Crew for an undisclosed fee on January 19 on a two year contract.
Columbus Crew have the option of signing Ramirez on a third year.
The striker was signed by Aberdeen on a two year deal from MLS club Houston Dynamo in summer 2021.
He was the Dons top scorer in his first season but became a peripheral figure under Goodwin.
Ramirez played just 470 minutes over 14 appearances this campaign before moving to Columbus Crew.
Brace in his return to MLS.
Welcome back, @Chris_Ramirez17! 👏 pic.twitter.com/B52EqSxmeI
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 26, 2023
The goalless draw with Ross County on January 3 was Ramirez’s first start since July 2022.
Final appearance
Ramirez’s final appearance for Aberdeen was as a substitute in the 2-1 League Cup semi-final loss to Rangers at Hampden on January 15.
The brace against Atlanta United maintained Ramirez’ impressive record of scoring on his debut.
He netted in his first game for Aberdeen, a 5-1 Europa Conference League qualifier defeat of BK Hacken in July 2021.
Ramírez has also scored on his MLS debut for Minnesota United, Houston Dynamo and now Columbus Crew
He is only the fifth player in ML history to score on his debut for at least three different teams.
Ramirez’s Columbus Crew debut was delayed because he had suffered a foot injury.
He said: “I’m very impatient when it comes to injuries.
“I was in such a rush to play that I forgot to put my insert in my left foot, which is my injured foot.
“So the first half I played without an insert.
“That was bad on my part, but all good.
“As long as I can be out there, as long as the coach needs me, I’ll give him whatever he needs.
“He knows that and I think the medical staff did a great job.”
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