Ramires terminates Jiangsu Suning contract, becomes free agent — report

With 251 appearances for Chelsea in a little over five seasons, Ramires is right in that zone of uncertainty when it comes to defining legend status. But, he did score one of the greatest goals in club history, so that probably puts him on the legend side of the line.

In any case, according to Brazilian news outlet GloboEsporte, the hero of the Nou Camp and Champions League-winner Ramires has reached a mutual agreement with Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning to terminate his contract and become a free agent.

This ends a rather frustrating twelve months for the midfielder, who hasn’t featured for the team since last May and has been working actively to try to extricate himself from his contract and return home to either Europe or Brazil.

Ramires joined Jiangsu back in 2016, signing a three-year contract that was due to end in October. But as reports a month ago had predicted, he has managed to agree a mutual termination in time for the European transfer window, which should pave the way back to either Benfica, who are back in the conversation, or Flamengo, who were rumored earlier.

Like Mikel and Ashley Cole, Ramires may not be up to Chelsea standard anymore, but it’s always nice to see our legends — especially those who played such key roles in the 2011-12 Champions League win — finding success wherever they can, at or very near the top levels of the professional game.