RAMIRES - Why is he being sold? Why China? Is this a chance for Ruben Loftus-Cheek?

I have to admit, I am at a total loss at the prospect of losing Ramires and even more so when I try to get my head around the fact that he is moving to China! There are so many questions that will remain unanswered but it really is a deal that leaves all of us scratching our heads to try and understand.

In my opinion Ramires is a HUGE asset to our club. Bought for £18m in 2010 and having signed a new four-year contract, you would have thought that the club felt the same but something has happened to change his situation which you have to believe is quite drastic.

Ramires has not started a game for Chelsea since we lost away at Leicester City which was Jose Mourinho's final game before being sacked. Guus Hiddink has come in, brought Jon Obi Mikel back into the side and Ramires has found himself out of contention. We can pretty much confirm that it's going to be Mikel plus one in that deeper midfield position so with Ramires being sold, that leaves Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as the options we have remaining.

It's such a shame that he is being sold as we have seen over the years just what he can do. He runs all day and works hard for you up and down the pitch. He scores goals, he makes tackles and despite his small frame, he is an influence in the midfield area.

When he plays in the deeper role, he gives the person next to him a level of freedom to concentrate on what they need to do rather than cover for him too. Perfect example was when he started next to Nemanja Matic against Dynamo Kiev. Matic had spent most of the season to that point having to cover the area Cesc Fabregas was unable to due his lack of pace and tackling ability. Matic had been stretched all over the place and his form suffered as a result. Against Kiev, he knew he had a willing work-horse next to him and that gave him freedom to dominate his areas of the pitch and we all saw a marked difference with the big Serbian my man-of-the-match that night!

There are reports on social media that Chelsea have to sell before they can buy in this window and Ramires at £25m would be monies well received. Whether or not Chelsea would spend the money on someone else is yet to be seen but maybe it's a chance for Ruben Loftus-Cheek now to show on a regular basis what he can do. I just wonder if this is a massive show of confidence and belief in him from the club?

So why is Ramires heading off to China? Is it money or first team football? This is really, really strange. You would think that some of Europe's top brass would be taking an interest in him at that price as soon as it was made public that a deal could be agreed? Why have they not come in now? It would be classed as one of the craziest transfer deals of recent history.

What do you think of Ramires being sold and his potential move to China?