Top 10 things you need to know about Ramires plus watch him in action
Chelsea are poised to complete the signing of Brazilian World Cup midfielder Ramires.
in an an £18.3million deal.
The Benfica star will cost Chelsea £18.3million, but what do we know about him? Here's MirrorFootball's Steve Anglesey with the answers...
1) A tireless box-to-box runner, midfielder Ramires was nicknamed the Blue Kenyan by fans at his old club Cruzeiro - a reference to their club colours and the player's famed endurance, as well as his distinctive looks. Check out both here.
2) Born near Rio in March 1987, Ramires began his football career as a left back. He travelled south to become a pro, signing for Division Three Joinville in 2005. He must have had a whale of a time in the business-oriented city settled by German immigrants in the 1820s - the guidebooks describe it as having "the atmosphere of a rather dull, small town in Germany".
3) Ramires moved to Belo Horizonte - where England famously lost 1-0 to the USA in the 1950 World Cup - in 2007 to join Cruzeiro. He moved on to Benfica last May - and got his first Brazil call-up on the same day - so Chelsea would be his third club in little over a year.
4) More a provider of chances than a taker of them, Ramires' goal record is nothing to write home about. This might explain why:
5) But he did manage to bag a couple of second half goals in Brazil's World Cup warm-up win against Tanzania, having been brought into Dunga's side for the previous year's Confederations Cup.
6) Despite being an ever-present in that Confederations Cup, Ramires slipped behind Felipe Melo in Dunga's plans for South Africa. He then reclaimed his place in the round of 16 defeat of Chile but a booking, coupled with one he received in the opener against North Korea, ruled him out of the fateful quarter-final against Holland in which Melo touched in Wesley Sneijder's cross for the equaliser and then was sent off for stamping on Arjen Robben.
7) Ramires earned a Capello Index rating of 62.9 during Brazil's 3-0 win against Chile - slightly less than midfilder partner Gilberto Silva on 63.03 but considerably more than the 55.88 rating of some bum called Kaka.
8) Although he's not yet part of Brazil's illustrious World Cup history, Ramires does already have an international medal to his name. He was part of the squad that won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
9) Like his international team-mate Kaka, Ramires belongs to Jesus... Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, that is. His attacking style led the club to a league and cup double last season, bringing tens of thousands of The Arsenalistas - their familiar-sounding fanbase - onto the streets of Lisbon where Ramires partied with clubmate David Luiz, a Manchester City transfer target this summer.
10) Outstanding in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals against Liverpool last season, Ramires nevertheless spurned a great headed chance that would have sent the Portuguese side to Anfield with a two-goal advantage. He was less effective as Benfica lost the second leg 4-1, but did win the free kick which temporarily made it 4-3 on aggregate before Fernando Torres settled matters.
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