Former Chelsea midfielder Ramires, who joined Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning last January on a lucrative big-money move, says the reason behind his transfer was not based on the huge pay-rise on his contract, he told Evening Standard.
The Brazilian was a long-serving player in the Blues team, joining the West London club from Portuguese side SL Benfica in 2010. He once was a key member in the Chelsea team helping his side win the Premier League three times, and the Champions League and Europa League trophies in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
However, when he eventually fell down in the pecking order and found himself spectating his team from the bench and sidelines, Ramires didn’t hesitate to turn down a chance to change the view and accept Jiangsu’s well-paying contract offer from the Far East.
The 29-year-old remains happy with his decision of making the move alongside many other high-profile names who made a switch to China, but insists that the reason he left wasn’t the money.
If you look at the situation I was going through at Chelsea at the time of the transfer you will see that I was [Guus] Hiddink’s last option in my position and this was frustrating me a lot.
The situation was only getting worse and at that moment came the interest of the Chinese club.
Jiangsu introduced me to a long-term project where I would be a key player, they offered me everything I could think of and more, and I decided together with my agent and family that this would be the best decision.
Ramires also named his best moment in a Chelsea shirt after six years at Stamford Bridge, picking his world-class lob over Victor Valdez against Barcelona in 2012 his greatest of all.
I cannot deny that the special moment for me was when I scored the goal over [Victor] Valdes on Camp Nou in the semi-finals of Champions League.
It was something magical, that was eternalised in my memory and in the memory of every fan of Chelsea.
