PSG agree deal to sign Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos

PSG agree deal to sign Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos
By Adam Crafton
Aug 6, 2023

Paris Saint-Germain have agreed a deal with Benfica for the signing of striker Goncalo Ramos. 

The Ligue 1 club have agreed a one-year loan with an obligation to buy the 22-year-old for €65m plus €15m in add-ons.

Personal terms are not believed to be an issue and if all goes according to plan, Ramos will sign for the Parisian club ahead of the upcoming season. 


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Ramos had been linked with several clubs across Europe, having excelled with Benfica over recent seasons. 

Last season, he scored 27 goals and assisted 12 times across 47 appearances in all competitions as Benfica won their 38th league title in 2022-23. 

Ramos also scored a hat-trick for Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar last year when they defeated Switzerland in the round of 16. 

He is set to become PSG’s ninth major signing of the summer following the arrivals of Hugo Ekitike, Milan Skriniar, Marco Asensio, Manuel Ugarte, Lee Kang-in, Lucas Hernandez, Xavi Simons and Arnau Tenas.


A superb finisher who stifles the opposition with his pressing

Analysis by Mark Carey

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Goncalo Ramos: Benfica man is lethal in the box and his pressing stifles the opposition

Ramos has played as a deeper second striker — drawing comparisons with Thomas Muller — in the past, but Benfica’s number 88 was used almost exclusively as an out-and-out striker in a 4-2-3-1 for Roger Schmidt’s title-winning side this campaign.

It is rare to see a prolific goalscorer possess an archetypal goal, but a lot of Ramos’ strikes this season have followed a similar pattern — a one-touch finish at the near post.

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Among all midfielders and forwards in the Primeira Liga, no player averaged higher than Ramos’ 0.79 non-penalty xG per 90 this season. Crucially, only two players had a higher shot quality than Ramos’ 0.21 xG per shot.

Put simply, Ramos combines quality with quantity when it comes to efforts on goal.

(Photo: Henrique Casinhas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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Adam Crafton

Adam Crafton covers football for The Athletic. He previously wrote for the Daily Mail. In 2018, he was named the Young Sports Writer of the Year by the Sports' Journalist Association. His debut book,"From Guernica to Guardiola", charting the influence of Spaniards in English football, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2018. He is based in London.