Former Chelsea midfielder Ramires has said that he moved to Jiangsu Suning for their "long-term project" rather than financial reasons.

In January, Ramires departed Stamford Bridge after making 247 appearances for the West London outfit and it was widely reported that the Brazilian had signed a lucrative contract with the Chinese Super League club.

However, Ramires has insisted that his motivation came from being regarded as an important member of the team, something he felt was not the case under his previous boss Guus Hiddink.

The 29-year-old told Goal.com: "I see a lot of people saying that I came to China just for the money, but that's not true.

"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."

Ramires has made 38 appearances for Jiangsu, who finished as runners-up in China's top flight during the most recent campaign.