A few weeks ago it looked certain that Gaston Ramirez would be heading back to Italy in the January transfer window, now that could be turned on its head.
Gaston Ramirez's move to Bologna looked a done deal for Saints in a move that would free up a substancial amount of wages off of the St Mary's balance books, Ramirez is alleged to be being paid anywhare between £50 -65 k a week according to various sources and when you add on National Insurance payments and pension contributions that is probably increased by around another 20% as a cost to Saints.
That has been the main reason why Saints have been unable to sell Ramirez, it is not a good move fnancially for the player who would struggle to get a contract worth a third of that in Italy if he were to return there, that has meant Saints have had to bite the bullet and even though they have recouped some of that wage when Ramirez has been out on loan, it has barely scratched the surface of the overall cost over four seasons.
Saints had hoped that they might get some respite, Ramirez with only six months left on his contract could now afford to write off the last six months in order to get himself back into action in his preferred destination, that would suit Saints who would probably save around £1.5 -2 million in wages for that six month period, it doesn't sound like a lot given the Premier League millions, but over a year it is a hefty sum and it does affect the ability of Saints to improve the squad in terms of what they are able to offer as a wage without going over budget.
But it looks like Ramirez could stay in England for the rest of his contract and that is not good news for Saints, Middlebrough and Swansea are two clubs that are being linked.
So why would Ramirez want to go on loan to either ?
The truth is money, a move to Italy would probably see him earn around £600 -800k less over a six month period than he would if he saw out his contract at St Mary's, possibly more if he has a loyalty bonus tacked on the end of it.
If he goes to either Boro or the Swans he will continue to get his full wage from Saints albeit that either club will subsidise some of it, presumably Swansea will be able to offer more in that department than League One Middlesbrough.
One thing it does do though is offer Ramirez the opportunity to perhaps broker a better severance package from Saints, like any player who has not technically asked for a move he is in a strong position in that he is entitled to have his contract paid up if he is sold, in practice that rarely happens with the selling club & player usually settling on a figure somewhere inbetween 0 and the full amount of the contract.
The fact that with nearly three weeks of the transfer window having elapsed and the fact that Ramirez has not moved to Bologna suggests that something is holding up the deal and that something is probably money, that being the case linking Ramirez with a loan move to another English club could be his agent trying to force Saints hand.
Whatever it is it is not good, although Ramirez has not been a success at St Mary's, the supporters have appreciated that is not entirely down to him and more to the fact that he was a supposedly "Marque" signing for our former Chairman, yet he did not fit in with the style of play we then adopted and was a fish out of water almost from day one.
However unlike that other Marque signing Osvaldo he did not show his petulance, he just got his head down, played when asked and tried his best, despite the teams formation not suiting him.
Occasionally he would show his talents, but the truth is he never really had an outlet for his abilities to thread through a ball behind the defence, neither Rickie Lambert nor Pelle were the type of striker that thrived on through balls into the channels.
So perhaps it is time for Gaston Ramirez to show some consideration to both the Club and its supporters for the patience they have shown and the money that we have both spent, yes we agreed to pay Ramirez and he is entitled to that money and I do not blame him for sitting tight for the past three years and taking it, I don't think there is one Saints supporter who would leave their employer to go and do the same job for under half the money they are getting, but the time is now right for Ramirez to forget money and work on getting his career back on track, he is now 25 and no longer a promising youngster.
Saints fans have a few happy memories of Gaston Ramirez, we want them to remain so, to remember him as a great talent who just didn't fit in to the way we play, we want him to go to Italy and flourish, what we don't want is to remember his as a man who dragged it out to the bitter end for the last pound he was entitled to, even at the expense of his career.