A Paris Saint-Germain player since 2023, Gonçalo Ramos has always had to fight for his place with the Rouge-et-Bleu. Barely recruited, the Portuguese international saw his new club spend €90 million to afford Randal Kolo Muani. Ramos thought he would have to manage the competition with RKM, but in the end, both men were relegated to the bench to make room for Kylian Mbappé at the forefront of the attack. Kolo Muani and Mbappé have since left, but Ramos has not become an indisputable starter. Last season, Luis Enrique had a genius idea: installing Ousmane Dembélé as number 9. An inspiration which allowed PSG to win, among other things, its first Champions League and the French international to sign the most prolific exercise of his career (35 goals, 6 assists) and lift the Ballon d’Or.
For his part, Ramos ended his season with 14 starts in 46 matches and an average playing time of 39 minutes per match. Not a great record in terms of playing time, but the Portuguese never complained in the media like several of his predecessors at PSG could do. Last summer, he even quickly dismissed rumors announcing a possible departure. “I’m very happy here! It’s normal that everyone talks a little, but for me it’s nothing”he declared during the Club World Cup in the United States. Ditto in mid-August, after winning the European Super Cup against Tottenham. “If I stay? Yes.”
Luis Enrique’s choices included
Gonçalo Ramos doesn’t make waves, but his status doesn’t change in Paris. Since the start of the season, he has played 18 matches (5 goals), but has only started on 7 occasions. In the Champions League, he even saw Luis Enrique compensate for the absence of Dembélé by preferring Senny Mayulu (19 years old) and Quentin Ndjantou (17 years old) to his position, while the two Titis are not professional number 9s. The first is a midfielder, while the second plays mainly on the wings. Some will say that Ramos remains better when he comes off the bench as evidenced by his decisive goals against FC Barcelona (2-1) and Nice (1-0). However, it’s hard not to think that his coach’s choices remind him that he will never be a potential starter in Paris. However, if the picture painted is unflattering for Ramos, Portuguese observers are not necessarily sounding the alarm. Because in Portugal, Luis Enrique’s decisions are accepted, including yesterday’s decision to start young Ndjantou.
“I think it’s really Luis Enrique’s choice of playing model. Playing with Gonçalo from the start involves other dynamics, which are not a priority for the coach’s strategy. I think the decision does not have much to do with Gonçalo, because it seems to me that Luis Enrique likes him, but rather with the game strategy. PSG prefers a more mobile attack, without much reference in the area, with midfielders who also have a lot of scoring opportunities. With this in mind, and although he is not really a fixed striker, Gonçalo Ramos appears more as a pure number 9. Gonçalo Ramos often comes into play to add something or make a difference, but the coach has not integrated him into the team’s main game plan.the journalist told usIn BolaNélson Feiteirona. “Ndjantou simply has a profile more suited to what Luis Enrique wanted to put in place for the match in question. It would have been a strong, even worrying, message for Ramos if another player of his profile had been preferred. However, with Ndjantou, we remain on this desire to have a mobile player in front”adds Alexandre Ribeiro, journalist for the site Trivela.fr that we contacted.
A departure next summer? Not so sure…
In addition, Ribeiro reminds us that this situation is nothing new for Ramos who also has to settle for crumbs with the Seleção das Quinas because of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. “Ramos is not the type to complain, that’s not his character. He is also experiencing a very frustrating situation in the selection where he does not have any playing time either, because he is in competition with the emblematic captain of the team, and does not complain however. He is capable of biding his time, of being content to take what he has to take without flinching and above all, of putting the collective project before his own. Others would have already thrown in the towel for him, but he has the ability to maintain his level of involvement despite this situation, because he prioritizes the collective aspect and puts all his concentration on the missions he has to carry out, even when they are rare. You will have understood, Gonçalo Ramos will hang on without complaint, but a question is still likely to arise. If a winter departure is ruled out, will Ramos ask to leave next summer, two years from the end of his contract? Then again, the reality might not be what we think.
On paper, all the arguments seem to be there (substitute status, won everything with Paris) for the attacker to want to try a new adventure. “In my opinion, yes. Gonçalo Ramos can contribute a lot more if the team’s game plan is different and if he plays more for himself. What he does at the World Cup can also help define the future.explains Feiteirona, even if he adds a caveat. “But I don’t think he’s upset or unhappy at PSG. It is well integrated, even if it is not the main reference.” A shared feeling that we also find in Ribeiro. The latter also reminds us that Ramos is not at all assured of finding a starting place with another tenor from the Old Continent. “It will depend on the projects available to him and his own objectives. With the future departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in the selection (potentially after the 2026 World Cup), a starting place will open up in the selection and it would be relevant to see him play more to secure this place which should, a priori, go to him. By remaining a second-tier player, even at PSG, it is less obvious. But be careful not to try to go too high either, and risk reliving a similar experience elsewhere, and losing even more time”. And for the moment, Gonçalo Ramos does not seem decided to move.
