Ramires: I moved to China for the playing opportunity, not the money

Having settled into a new life in Asia, Ex-Chelsea midfielder Ramires praised now-Shanghai SIPG boss Andre Villas-Boas as the manager he "identified most with," and insisted he moved to the Chinese Super League to get back to first team football.

The industrious Brazilian left Stamford Bridge for Jiangsu Suning in January for a reported fee of £25 million, swapping the bustling streets of London with the misty mountain range of Nanjing County, China.

However, he hasn't forgotten both the good and bad of playing in England.

"I had the pleasure of working with great coaches during my career, but I identified most with Andre Villas-Boas," Ramires told Goal of the former Chelsea manager who also made the move to China, as reported by ESPN FC's Liam Twomey. "We got along really well and it was great to work with him, he's a guy of enormous ability and intelligence."

The 29-year-old said he decided to leave England mainly due to his playing time being significantly reduced by Guus Hiddink, who replaced Jose Mourinho as interim Chelsea manager in December of 2015.

"I see a lot of people saying that I came to China just for the money, but that's not true," he insisted. "If you look at the situation I was going through at Chelsea at the time of the transfer you will see that I was Hiddink's last option in my position and this was frustrating me a lot."

Ramires established himself as a regular member of the starting lineup during his six-year term with the Blues. He played for six different managers during this transition period, and helped Chelsea win almost every domestic and European title, including the Premier League and Champions League.

He knows there is almost no chance of picking up another major title at his current club, but the enigmatic midfielder said that did not put him off playing in Asia.

"The situation was only getting worse, and at that moment came the interest of the Chinese club," he said. "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 my family that this would be the best decision.

"The money issue weighed on the decision, I put it on the scale that I am already 29 years old and that an irrefutable opportunity like this may never come again. But the way things are happening at Chelsea was the main reason."