(Photo: Action Images via Reuters)
There must be many considerations for a footballer to make before he decides to move clubs. Money. Playing time. European football. The weather…
Yes, former Middlesbrough man Gaston Ramirez has revealed that it was the weather in Teesside that prompted him to make a summer switch back to Italy with Sampdoria.
The Uruguayan didn't stick around for long following Boro's relegation back to the Championship, with a move to Serie A too good to turn down, although not for the reasons you'd think.
“The climate in Italy is fine,” Ramirez said. “In Middlesbrough, I felt warm for only around 15 days a year.”
Ramirez' Riverside career got off to a hot start, but as a relegation dogfight loomed last season, the 26-year-old fell out of the first 11 picture.
“The Premier League is very physical, and maybe I didn't find the right team for my game. I was in and out of the side and when that happens, it is difficult to show how hard you're trying.”
Capped 41 times by Uruguay, Ramirez started his career in sunnier climes with Peñarol in his home country. He moved to Bologna in 2010, and after an impressive two season spell with ‘I Rossoblu' he made the switch to England with Southampton in what was then a club-record deal for the South Coast side.
Loan spells at Hull and Boro followed, before he was snapped up by the latter on a permanent basis. Clearly, the further north Ramirez travelled the less enthused he was.
