Gastón Ramírez

Peñarol

Born in Fray Bentos, Ramírez started his senior career in Uruguay with Peñarol, making his professional debut for the club at age eighteen, in a 1-0 loss against Defensor Sporting on 21 March 2009.

In his second year there, Ramírez proved a breakthrough season for him, as he was given a handful of first team appearances. Despite being absent from Torneo Apertura campaign, due to international commitment, Ramírez scored his first Peñarol goal, in a 5-0 win over Atenas on 13 December 2009. In the Torneo Clausura, Ramírez started the campaign well when he scored again and set up a goal, in a 2-1 win over Cerro on 30 January 2010. As the Torneo Clausura season progressed, Ramírez scored four more goals against Liverpool, Rampla Juniors, Defensor Sporting and Danubio. Ramírez went on to score 6 goals in 30 games, helping the club win the 2009–10 Primera División.

Ramírez's performance at Peñarol attracted interests from European clubs, such as Schalke 04 and Bologna.

Bologna

On 25 August 2010, Ramírez was sold to Serie A side Bologna for a fee of €2.5 million.

Ramírez made his Bologna debut, coming on as a substitute for Diego Pérez in the 76th minutes, in a 1–1 draw away to Catania on 26 September 2010. A month later, on 27 October 2010, Ramírez scored his first goals, in a 3–2 win over Modena in the third round of the Italian Cup and scored again in the fourth round of the Italian Cup, and setting up one of the two goals, in a 3–1 win over Cagliari. It wasn't until 23 January 2011 when he scored his first Serie A goal for the club, in a 3-1 win over Lazio. After suffering from an injury, Ramírez later scored three more goals in the season against Cagliari, Leece and Fiorentina (which he was sent-off after a second bookable offence). Ramírez later finished his first season at Bologna with four goals and two assists in 25 league appearances, and scored an additional three goals in two Coppa Italia games.

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Ramírez was linked with Premier League side Manchester City and Inter Milan. Ramírez expressed his desire to leave the club, but was urged to stay at the club by his then-teammate Marco Di Vaio, which he did. After suffering from an injury, Ramírez returned to the next game on 16 October 2011 and scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–0 win over Novara. Ramírez scored three more goals by the end of the year against Atalanta, Palermo and Genoa. His good performance at Bologna earned him a new contract, keeping him until 2016. Despite suffering from ankle injury, Ramírez scored four more goals later in the 2011–12 season against Fiorentina, Milan, Genoa and Catania. Ramírez finished the 2011–12 season, making 33 appearance and scoring eight times in all competitions.

Despite signing a contract during the 2011–12 season, Ramírez continued to be in the transfer speculation, such as Napoli, Inter Milan and Juventus. In response to this, the club offered him a new contract once more. In late-August, Ramírez was linked with a move to Southampton and was on the verge of signing him for a reported £12m. However, the deal was angrily denied by the club's management. With the deal appeared to be stalled, with his agent stated the move was bound to fail, the move was unexpected agreed on 27 August 2012.

Southampton

On 31 August 2012, Ramírez joined Southampton for a reported £12m, signing a four-year contract.

He made his debut on 15 September in a 6–1 defeat against Arsenal, coming on as a half-time substitute for Steven Davis and scored his first goal two weeks later on 29 September 2012, opening the scoring in a 3–1 defeat against Everton. After suffering from a hamstring injury, he returned to the first team, where he played 76 minutes, in a 2–0 loss against West Brom on 5 November 2012. His first home goal came in a 2–0 victory against Newcastle United on 25 November, as well as setting up one of the goals. On 1 January 2013, he scored in a 1–1 draw at home to Arsenal. After suffering a leg injury, Ramírez went on to score two more goals later in the season on 2 March 2013, in a 2–1 loss against Queens Park Rangers. and another on 13 April 2013, in a 1–1 draw against West Ham United. However, on 27 April, Ramírez was sent off for an incident involving West Bromwich Albion's Marc-Antoine Fortuné following an elbow on Shane Long. As a result, he was suspended for the last three matches of the season. Ramírez finished his first season at Southampton making twenty-two appearances and scoring five times.

Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Ramírez was linked with a move to clubs around Europe, such as Atlético Madrid and Borussia Dortmund for around 15 million euros. However, Southampton ruled out selling Ramírez and were prepared to reject any bid for him. Ramírez eventually stayed at the club but by the second half of the season, he was featured less in the first team. Despite this, Ramírez scored two goals in the Football League Trophy against Barnsley and Bristol City. Ramírez then scored his first league goal of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Everton on 29 December 2013. However, on 23 January 2014, it was announced that along with Dejan Lovren, Ramírez would be out for six to eight weeks with ankle ligament damage. After being sidelined for six weeks, Ramírez made his return to the first team on 22 February 2014, coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minutes, in a 3–1 loss against West Ham United. He finished the 2013–14 season with 18 appearances and scoring once for the club.

Although he made one appearance in the 2014–15 season, in a 3–1 win against West Ham United on 30 August 2014, newly appointed manager Ronald Koeman was keen on using him in the first team, due to his playing style, and expressed reluctance to let him leave the club.

After his loan spell at Hull City came to an end, Ramírez was told by manager Koeman that he had no future at the club. In response to this, he showed that he wanted to leave Southampton by ripping up his contract in an attempt to return to his home country. Despite this, he made his first appearance for the club in a year, coming on as a substitute in a 6–0 win over Milton Keynes Dons in the second round of the League Cup. After the match, Manager Koeman praised Ramírez after he showed signs of an improvement in his discipline. A month later on 25 October 2015, Ramírez made his first league appearance for the club, where he provided an assist for Sadio Mané, in a 1–1 draw against Liverpool. In the January transfer window, Koeman, however, told him that he could leave the club and he subsequently joined Middlesbrough.

He went on to make three appearance for Southampton in the 2015–16 season. At the end of the season, Ramírez was among four players to be released by the club. Southern Daily Echo reported that Southampton made a £21m loss on Ramírez and that he had cost them £8000 a minute.

Hull City (loan)

On 1 September 2014, Ramírez was loaned to fellow Premier League club, Hull City. Ramírez stated that he had joined the club to try convince the club's supporters what he can do.

Two weeks later he made his debut at the KC Stadium, replacing fellow debutant Mohamed Diamé for the final 11 minutes of a 2–2 draw against West Ham United. Ramírez was given a straight red card for kicking Tottenham Hotspur's Jan Vertonghen in Hull's 1–2 home defeat on 23 November. He scored once in 22 games for the Tigers – equalising in a 3–1 win at Sunderland on 26 December with a 30-yard strike, before assisting James Chester's header via a corner kick. Ramírez then provided an assist for David Meyler to score Hull City only goal in a game, in a 1–1 draw against Manchester City on 7 February 2015.

However, as the 2014–15 season progressed, Ramírez suffered two injuries and the season ended with relegation.

Middlesbrough

On 26 January 2016, Ramírez joined Championship side Middlesbrough on loan till the end of the season, when his Southampton contract was due to expire.

He made his debut on 9 February in a 1–1 draw at MK Dons, and two weeks later he scored his first Boro goal, giving them the lead in a 3–1 win against Cardiff City at the Riverside Stadium. On 4 March, he struck both goals in a 2–1 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, putting his team on top of the Championship table. Ramírez went on to score four more goals against Queens Park Rangers, a brace against Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City. On 7 May, he was part of the Middlesbrough side that won promotion back to the top-flight with a man of the match performance in a 1–1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion, despite sustaining a nasty injury following a challenge by Dale Stephens.

After leaving Southampton, Ramírez re-joined Middlesbrough, signing a three-year contract on 22 July 2016. Upon joining the club, he stated that it was the club's supporters, who played a role for his return to the club. Ramírez's first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came in the opening game of the season, where he set up a goal for Álvaro Negredo to put the hosts ahead in a 1–1 home draw against Stoke City.

International career

In 2009, Ramírez played in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. On 8 October 2010, he received his first full cap for Uruguay in a 7–1 friendly win against Indonesia in Jakarta, replacing Diego Pérez at half time.

In July 2012, he was named as a member of the Uruguay squad for the football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics, scoring during a warm-up match against Panama on 15 July. On 26 July, he scored from a free-kick to equalise as Uruguay came from behind to win 2–1 against the United Arab Emirates at Old Trafford in their opening game, although they were eventually eliminated at the group stage.

In June 2013, Ramírez was picked by Óscar Tabárez for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup tournament. Ramírez started the first group game against world champions Spain, and the third match against Tahiti, as Uruguay eventually came fourth.

On 31 May 2014, Ramírez was named in Uruguay's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He made his tournament debut in the last group game against Italy on 24 June, replacing Cristian Rodríguez after 78 minutes. Three minutes later, he supplied the cross from which Diego Godín scored the only goal of the game, putting Uruguay through to the knock-out stages. After missing out the Copa América due to a hamstring injury, Ramírez played his first Uruguay in a year, in a 3-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago and was included for the Copa América Centenario squad, where he played all three matches.

Club

International

Personal life

Ramírez married Micaela Duarte in the summer of 2012 and, in early 2016, he became a father when his wife gave birth to a son. Upon moving to England, Ramírez said that he was taking English lessons as part of work permit requirements.

Club