Not 'ideal'? Chelsea striker Mayra Ramirez can justify British-record fee and prove doubters wrong after arriving as Sam Kerr's injury replacement

Losing Kerr is a huge blow to Chelsea. One of the best centre-forwards on the planet, if not the best, the Australian doesn’t just rack up a lot of goals, she’s also excellent on the big occasions. Supremely-talented, a wonderful character and someone who doesn’t shy away from pressure, it’s hard to replace someone of Kerr's ilk. It’s even harder when you’re trying to do that in January, in a transfer window that is really difficult to operate in.

That’s part of the reason why many thought Chelsea wouldn’t sign someone to fill Kerr’s shoes. Another reason is because the squad is stacked with superb attacking players already. After all, they have Fishel, the USWNT star who was quite literally signed to step up when Kerr wasn’t available or needed a rest. They have Aggie Beever-Jones, the talented England youth international who has been incredibly prolific in her limited minutes this season. They have James, a dynamic and versatile forward with the tactical intelligence to adapt her role if needed, and they have Kirby, who is also incredibly- talented and capable of doing different jobs for the team.

Between them, and with the sublime service provided by wingers Guro Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, many thought there was enough there for Hayes to work with to adapt to Kerr’s absence.

Ramirez’s arrival felt like a massive statement, then. To splash such cash on one of the game’s hottest properties showed that Chelsea mean business. They want to be sure that they have a team that can lift as many of the four trophies they are still competing for in the next few months.

Yet, it’s been met with mixed reactions. "I'm not sure she's the ideal replacement for Sam Kerr in the short-term,” Fara Williams, England’s most capped footballer, told talkSPORT. “Will she still play alongside Sam Kerr if Kerr signs a new contract after this year when she comes back from an ACL? How [will] that look for her as a player fighting in this Chelsea team?

"Fishel can play up there and I think she gives them a different dynamic when they play. Play into her, she's very good at holding up the ball, players can work off of her, something Chelsea have never been able to do before. Lauren James as a false nine, Fran Kirby, who for whatever reason isn’t really playing that much at Chelsea. If they can get her playing regularly I think she's a good enough replacement, between her and James."

But Ramirez delivers certainty. What if Kerr doesn’t sign a new deal when her current contract expires this summer? And what if James or Kirby struggled in a more central role? Fishel, who is still inexperienced at the highest level, would need some help with the goal-scoring burden, too.

Ramirez is a proven No.9, she’s got real potential to go with her already excellent talent and she’s got so many different facets to her game that the idea of putting her and Kerr in the same team, or having them pushing each other for the same shirt, sounds like an exciting problem to have.

So, what exactly does Ramirez bring to the table? It might be easier to list the things she’s not so good at. Boasting impressive strength and excellent footwork, the 24-year-old holds the ball up well and links up nicely with team-mates, drawing on her futsal upbringing while boasting good movement and understanding of where the space is. She’s dangerous on the move, too, because she’s explosive and difficult to dispossess.

These traits mean that, while she is best as a No.9, she can also play a little wider if needed, so any concerns about how she could play with Kerr if the Aussie stays shouldn’t be too great.

“She seems to me to be a player with a growing potential, with still a lot to give,” Levante coach Jose Luis Sanchez-Vera told Relevo last year. “We are seeing a Mayra who has exploded, especially because of her physical criteria, but she gives us a lot in different situations in the game. She's a player who people say runs into space for us, but she almost gives us more with how well she fixes the opposing defensive lines, how she allows us to support from the top, play with second line players, open doors, play with her feet, with her first touch. I think she is the player that allows us to give different contexts to the interpretation of the game.

“Right now, Mayra is exploding in the media, but she has so much room for improvement, in finishing situations, etc. If she continues like this, I think she's going to be a determining factor, not only in Spanish football, but also at European level.”

Sanchez-Vera would’ve hoped to have had Ramirez with him at Levante for longer, there’s no doubt, but during her outstanding World Cup campaign with Colombia last summer, rumours of interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon started to emerge. It felt like only a matter of time until Ramirez would leave the Spanish club, one which has become used to high player turnover in recent years such is the good job it does scouting, but also the status it holds as a club without the finances of Europe’s elite.

To get a fee in exchange for her departure that will be second only to Kundananji for a world-record is excellent business for Levante, but it doesn’t feel like Chelsea have overpaid, either. Finances in the women’s game are on the rise, and while Ramirez might not be a household name, to be one of the sport’s most expensive signings is only an indication of her exciting potential.

The World Cup was a great snapshot to justify this. Still only 24, she spearheaded Colombia to its best-ever performance at the tournament and earned huge praise along the way. Ian Wright, the legendary Arsenal forward, described her as “easily one of the best [No.9s] in the tournament” because of her “movement” and “link-up play”, while South Korea head coach Colin Bell dubbed her “world-class” after his team struggled to contain her in a 2-0 defeat in the group stages.

Playing for Chelsea is very different to playing for Levante. Ramirez has swapped a club that is often the underdog and needs to punch above its weight for the dominant force in English women’s football, one which has huge expectations. To have that World Cup experience under her belt and the pressure that came with it will be invaluable, then, and it was proof that she can cut it at the very top.

The early signs have been good for Ramirez in Chelsea blue, too. There were impressive glimpses on her debut, off the bench in a 3-0 win over Brighton, and then she was arguably the star of the show against Everton at the beginning of February. Reiten might’ve netted twice from the spot in another 3-0 victory, but Ramirez’s hold-up play, link-up with her new team-mates and destructive dribbling all caught the eye - the latter trait winning one of those penalties.

Erin Cuthbert, the Chelsea midfielder, couldn’t hide how impressed she was with the Colombian after that game. "Wow. Wow. Honestly, how exciting was she?” she told Sky Sports. “I'm sure all the Chelsea fans will be super-excited because she's an absolute unit. She's so difficult to get the ball off, so fun, so exciting and exactly what we needed in January.”

The brightest moment so far, though, came in the FA Cup on Sunday when Ramirez opened her account for her new club with a truly sensational goal. The clever flick wasn't just eye-catching, either. It was match-winning, proving to be the difference in a game that saw the Blues struggle to break down second-tier Crystal Palace.

El Espectador reported just before that fixture that a joint-decision was made for Ramirez to stay at Chelsea rather than join up with Colombia for this month's inaugural CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup. "She has only just arrived in London and is only just adapting to the squad, the city and the language, so the most sensible thing to do was to stay in England," the publication wrote. It's no surprise that the Blues have acted to keep her around, really, as it's already clear that Ramirez is going to be crucial in the second half of this season.

One thing that Ramirez’s arrival does, too, is it ensures that players like Kirby and James don’t have to sacrifice the effectiveness of their play by acting as a replacement for Kerr in the No.9 role – and the benefits of that are that Ramirez has shown exciting signs of linking up with her new team-mates in their more natural roles in attack.

Her strength, hold-up play and positioning means that she is the type of player that these lively, more free-roaming attackers can bounce off and work around perfectly, because she provides that consistency in where she will be and what areas she will take up.

We’ve seen glimpses already of how Ramirez will bond with Rytting Kaneryd and Reiten, too. Both are excellent wide players who provide top-quality service to whoever is in the box, and Ramirez will eat that up with how well she moves in front of goal.

If you’re of a Chelsea persuasion, the most exciting thing is that all of these positive signs have come from Ramirez when she is still so new to the club, the league and the country. Speaking to Sky Sports, Hayes noted after her superb display against Everton that the forward didn’t speak English, had only had “a handful of sessions” with the team and also had the English weather to get used to. “A cold night at Kingsmeadow,” she laughed. “But she adapted well.” All things considered, Cuthbert described it as “a credit to her” to have come in and gelled “so well” already.

Hayes’ Spanish skills will help Ramirez settle, with goalkeeper Hannah Hampton fluent in the language after spending time in Villarreal’s academy as a young girl, too. But it’s already clear that the forward’s natural talent will allow her to excel on the pitch as Chelsea prepare for a big few months.

The Blues are three points clear at the top of the Women’s Super League table, pursuing a fifth successive title. They’re in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, a trophy they’re looking to win for the fourth season in a row, and the semi-finals of the Continental Cup, one that they fell just short of collecting last term.

But the baby is the Champions League. It’s the one trophy that has evaded Hayes during her 12 years at the club, and to clinch it before she leaves for the U.S. would be the perfect ending to her illustrious and game-changing tenure.

Signing Ramirez in January, rather than simply reshuffling the squad to cope with Kerr’s absence, was perhaps a sign of the club trying to grab this final opportunity with their iconic coach with both hands. After all, the Colombian only makes the dominant side in English women’s football even stronger – and she’ll prove that before the season is out.