Middlesbrough's official website have confirmed that playmaker Gaston Ramirez has completed his move to Serie A outfit Sampdoria. 

Reports have suggested that the fee Boro will bank for the out-of-favour Uruguayan is in the region of £8m, which could get as high as £10m, if the relevant add-ons take effect.

The fee represents a very respectable figure to recoup - Boro did not waver from their view that they were not going to allow the midfielder to leave on the cheap - and provides chairman Steve Gibson with a boost to a budget that has taken a beating as the Teessiders attempt to get back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

That is despite the player submitting a transfer request during the January transfer window of their ultimately doomed season in the Premier League last year, and the fact that his relationship with the Boro fans has deteriorated to the extent that he was booed by some fractions of the Teessider's support during pre season.

In 40 league games, in both the Championship and the Premier League and spanning across a loan spell and a permanent spell at the Riverside, Ramirez found the back of the net on nine occasions, before his form tailed off in the second half of last season.

Sampdoria, who finished 10th in Serie A last season, have been able to offer the playmaker a return to Italy, where he plied his trade with Bologna until his big-money move to Southampton in 2012.

The Verdict: 

Once a player stops trying, as many Boro fans feel Ramirez did during a defeat against Stoke City last season, there is not usually a way back, as the relationship between the fans and the player has completely broken down.

That is the reason, along with his mid-season transfer request, Monk has sold one of his most creative influences, admittedly for a healthy profit.

Credit must also go to Gibson, who has held out for a large fee for a player whom it was clear was not going to play a big part in Boro's bid to return to the Premier League.

Boro fans - what do you make of Ramirez's departure? Are you happy to see him leave? Let us know in the comments below...