Why Everton parting ways with Sandro Ramirez makes perfect sense

According to the Liverpool Echo, Everton have been successful in their bid to offload flop striker Sandro Ramirez after the Spaniard sealed a last-gasp transfer to La Liga outfit Huesca before the international summer deadline on October 5. 

The 25-year-old still had 12 months remaining on the four-year deal that he signed while joining the Toffees from Malaga back in the summer of 2017 but Everton decided to let him go for free to facilitate a permanent transfer away from Goodison Park.

Profile

Sandro Ramirez started his career in the youth ranks of Las Palmas in Spain before completing his development at Barcelona. He featured extensively for the club’s reserve side in the second-tier while also scoring 7 goals in 32 first-team appearances for the Catalan giants.

The centre-forward enjoyed an unprecedented rise following his transfer to Malaga, bagging 14 goals and 3 assists in 30 La Liga outings during the 2016-17 season. Ramirez’s burgeoning reputation in Spain prompted Everton to take a punt on him in the summer of 2017, but the Spaniard was deemed surplus to requirements after spending just half-a-season at Goodison Park.

The 25-year-old joined Sevilla on loan for the second half of the 2017-18 campaign and spent the last two seasons on loan at Real Sociedad and Real Valladolid respectively. Ramirez managed a dismal tally of just 3 goals in 61 league appearances combined while on loan away from Merseyside.

Ramirez didn’t have a future at Everton

Everton seemed to have pulled off a masterstroke when they roped in Sandro Ramirez from Malaga for a thrifty £5.2million three years ago on the back of a 14-goal season in the La Liga. The ex-La Masia youth graduate had been tipped for a bright future in his homeland and his arrival was welcomed warmly by the Toffees faithful.

However, it didn’t take long for Ramirez to go down in the history books as one of Everton’s worst recruits in the last decade. The Spaniard managed to find the net only once in 16 appearances across all competitions before being flogged out on loan to Sevilla in January 2018. 

Ramirez wasn’t anywhere close to making a return to Everton’s first-team fold after that, with former boss Marco Silva and his successor Carlo Ancelotti not showing an inclination to give him a second crack of the whip in the Premier League.

Well, it’s hard to argue in his favour considering that the 25-year-old failed spectacularly in his attempts to resurrect his career on his loan spells away from Goodison Park. Everton have gone through radical changes since Ramirez first arrived at the club and he clearly had no place in a squad that is expected to challenge for a top-six finish under Ancelotti this season.

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Verdict

Sandro Ramirez might have failed to deliver the goods in English football but that certainly isn’t the end of the world for him. The former Spanish U-21 international is still only 25, and a permanent move away from Everton to Huesca should now allow him to settle down and focus on rebuilding his reputation in his homeland. 

All in all, Everton cutting all ties with their flop striker makes perfect sense for all parties involved.