Ramires has hailed Andre Villas-Boas as the best manager he has ever worked with, and insists that his decision to leave Chelsea for the Chinese Super League was not primarily motivated by money.
Ramires, 29, departed Stamford Bridge to join Jiangsu Suning in a deal worth a reported £25 million in January, having become disillusioned at a lack of first-team opportunities once Guus Hiddink replaced Jose Mourinho on an interim basis in December.
Ramires established himself as a popular figure among his teammates and supporters during a six-year spell at Chelsea that saw him work under six different managers and win every major domestic and European trophy, scoring memorable goals along the way. But despite time spent under the guidance of Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti at Stamford Bridge, Ramires regards Villas-Boas -- who was sacked by Chelsea after just nine months in charge and currently manages Chinese Super League rivals Shanghai SIPG -- as the best coach he has worked with.
"I had the pleasure of working with great coaches during my career, but I identified most with Andre Villas-Boas," Ramires told Goal. "We got along really well and it was great to work with him, he's a guy of enormous ability and intelligence."
Ramires was a regular starter for much of his time at Chelsea, but lost his starting place when Hiddink returned for a second caretaker spell following Mourinho's departure in November -- and the Brazilian insists that, rather than Jiangsu's lucrative financial offer, was the main reason why he left.
"I see a lot of people saying that I came to China just for the money, but that's not true," he added. "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.
"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.
"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 were happening at Chelsea was the main reason."