This paper presents a simple and robust direct-model predictive current control (DMPCC) scheme for surface-mounted permanent-magnet synchronous generators (PMSGs) in variable-speed wind turbines (VSWTs). The proposed DMPCC is based on computing the reference voltage vector (VV) directly from the demanded reference current using a deadbeat-like function. Then, the location of this reference VV is identified based on its angle. Finally, a certain cost function is evaluated for only three times to get the optimal voltage vector to be applied in the next sampling instant. However, the proposed DMPCC is a model-based control system, and accordingly, sensitive to parameter variations of the PMSG. To mitigate such limitation, a simple observer is designed to enhance the robustness of the proposed DMPCC scheme to variations of the PMSG parameters. The proposed DMPCC strategy has been experimentally implemented and its performance has been compared with that of the conventional DMPCC.