The Houston Dynamo have acquired forward Christian Ramírez in a trade with Los Angeles FC, the clubs announced today.
The Dynamo sent LAFC $100,000 in 2019 General Allocation Money, $75,000 in 2020 General Allocation Money, $75,000 in 2020 Targeted Allocation Money, along with additional future performance-based considerations.
Ramírez has earned two caps with the United States Men’s National Team, both this year, and has scored one goal at the senior international level. The forward scored on his international debut against Panama on Jan. 27, 2019, bagging the third goal in a 3-0 friendly victory over Panama. He earned his second cap in a 2-0 friendly win over Costa Rica on Feb. 2.
“We are very pleased to add a player like Christian Ramirez to the Houston Dynamo. He is a proven goal scorer who is in the prime of his career and has national team experience,” Dynamo Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Jordan said. With his skillset he will complement our current attacking corps quite well. With the addition of Christian, we are confident that our roster is in a good position to finish the season well and push for the playoffs.”
The 28-year-old has scored 27 goals in his four-year MLS career, including a career-high 14 in 2017 with Minnesota United FC, and has chipped in seven assists in 74 career games. This season, Ramírez has played a key role for the league’s top-scoring team, banging in four goals and adding two assists in 17 appearances.
“Christian is a very talented center forward who has had a very good career in MLS so far, playing for Minnesota United and for LAFC, as well as for the National Team,” said Dynamo Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera. “He has a good pedigree and a good résumé, and he’s still young with a lot of possibilities. We believe that he is going to bring a lot of good things for us and he’s going to help us to achieve our goals as we try to qualify for the playoffs over these last 11 games.”
Ramírez joined Minnesota United FC in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014. Ramírez starred for the Loons in NASL for three seasons, scoring 51 goals in 90 appearances before making the leap to Major League Soccer with the club in 2017. He earned NASL Best XI honors three consecutive seasons from 2014-16 and was the league’s top scorer in 2014, with 20 goals, and again in 2016 with 18.
The Santa Ana, California native started his collegiate career at California-Santa Barbara, playing his freshman and sophomore seasons for the Gauchos, before transferring to Concordia University in Irvine, Calif. for his junior and senior seasons. He tallied 41 goals at Concordia, including a school-record 23 in his senior season.
With the addition of Ramírez, the Dynamo now have 28 players on the active roster.
PLAYER PROFILE – CHRISTIAN RAMÍREZ
FULL NAME: Christian Ramírez
DATE OF BIRTH: April 4, 1991 (28 years old)
HEIGHT: 6-2 WEIGHT: 187
HOMETOWN: Santa Ana, Calif.
FIFA NATIONALITY: United States
TRANSACTION: The Houston Dynamo acquire FW Christian Ramírez in a trade with Los Angeles FC in exchange for $100,000 in 2019 General Allocation Money, $75,000 in 2020 General Allocation Money and $75,000 in 2020 Targeted Allocation Money, along with future performance-based considerations.
