Ramires is the kind of footballer that you're happy to have while he's there but quickly forget about him when he's not. He's a servant to the cause who you always have a sneaking suspicion can do a lot more than he is but never actually get the chance to find out, except of course for that goal against Barcelona in 2012.
Nevertheless, it seems that's the memory that Chelsea fans are going to have to hold on to in terms of the dynamic Brazilian because he's off to China for an eye-watering £20 million. In what is surely going to be one of the most surprising deals of the January transfer window, Chelsea are actually going to make a profit on a player that it's clear they have no real need for anymore.
Ramires joined from Benfica for £18 million in 2010 and has duly gone about his business in a thoroughly efficient manner before succumbing to what you may call the John Obi Mikel syndrome of looking like you're not doing a whole lot under Jose Mourinho but still being seen as a valuable member of the team.
This season however, it would seem that Ramires has fallen behind Mikel in the slightly anonymous midfield position and all parties are happy to cut things short and for Ramires to look for first team football elsewhere. However, surely no one could have been expecting Chelsea to get anywhere near what they paid for the now 29 year old.
Step forward the nouveau riche (slightly ironic when you consider that Chelsea are the 'old money' in this regard) Chinese Super League and Jiangsu Suning who have offered a Chelsea a whopping £20 million for Ramires.
When you consider that Fernando Torres has supposedly been offered a 'world record deal' to play in China and Alex Pato had a confirmed offer of somewhere in the region of €1 million a month to head to the far east, it's fair to say that should any club be looking to trim their squad this winter, they could do an awful lot worse than ringing up a few Chinese clubs and getting a bit of a bidding war going.
