Christian Ramirez: Aberdeen have say on American's Pittodrie future in wake of social media post

Jim Goodwin insists he has no reason to believe Christian Ramirez will not be at Aberdeen next season after the striker was linked with a return to the United States.

Ramirez has been one of Aberdeen’s few bright points this season after scoring ten goals but he was dropped for last Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Livingston. The loss means Aberdeen still have work to do to secure their top-flight safety.

The Pittodrie side are five points clear of 11 th placed St Johnstone as they prepare to host bottom club Dundee tomorrow.

They have won just once since Goodwin replaced Stephen Glass in February while Ramirez has still to score under the new manager.

The striker was named on the bench last Saturday – for the first time he had not featured in the starting XI since a League Cup defeat at Raith Rovers in August.

He came on in the second half and Goodwin said he wanted to have “as many attacking players on the pitch as possible” against Dundee as Aberdeen bid to secure a vital three points.

But a question mark over Ramirez’s future emerged earlier this week when his wife Valerie posted a photo of herself and her husband on Instagram alongside a comment including the observation that living in Scotland “was hard”.

Many Aberdeen supporters interpreted this as a farewell message. There has already been speculation linking Ramirez with a return to Major League Soccer or else joining a club in England. The striker has another year of his contract to run.

Goodwin stressed that the 31-year-old has not communicated any unhappiness to him. “As far as I’m aware, Christian is under contract 'til the end of next season and he’s not come to tell me that he’s not happy or he’s not enjoying life at Aberdeen.

“Until that conversation is