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Nigel Adkins couldn't smile wide enough.

After guiding Southampton to the Premier League, the club - and the boss - appeared to be on the up.

The proof, said the physio turned gaffer, was the ambition on show with the purchase of Gaston Ramirez.

The fee, predictably, was undisclosed, but understood to be around the £12m mark. Adkins was delighted.

"Great credit to everyone because we have a young, exciting talent joining us who is one of the best around."

Less than four years later and then Southampton boss Ronald Koeman was asked about the same player.

"He is not in the plans for the future of the club."

(Image: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Nor was he in Hull's plans. A loan move that failed to take off had come to an end. A red card on his first start against Spurs rather set the tone for his time at the KC Stadium.

"He never really found a role in the Hull team to be honest," explains Phil Buckingham, of the Hull Daily Mail.

"They quite often played wing-backs at that time and there just didn't seem to be a natural fit for Ramirez in the team.

"There was a couple of games were he stood out but he had zero consistency and looked a little lightweight.

"I certainly didn't see him as a natural fit for the Premier League."

He looked every inch a natural fit on Saturday against Stoke City.

No tears were shed when Ramirez's loan stint came to an end at the KC Stadium or when his contract expired at St Mary's, yet Hull and Southampton fans will be wondering what if should the Uruguayan continue with the classy showing of Saturday in the months ahead.

And that's the obvious challenge.

Boro fans have to look no further than the previous pair of No.10 residents for the importance of consistency in that oh-so important role.

Diego Fabbrini had us waxing lyrical amid comparisons with the most famous Diego after a super showing or two at the start of his Boro stint.

By the end he was more missing than mercurial.

And inconsistency blighted Lee Tomlin's game as well.

But Ramirez is a step-up in class and showed on Saturday that he has the quality to make that step up in divisions.

But then we knew that already. We'd seen enough last year and his pedigree speaks for itself.

Admittedly, it's such an easy statement to fall back on but you don't play for Uruguay without having a bit of something special. They don't hand caps out willy-nilly.

The key ingredient, perhaps, is finding 'that role' that wasn't available at Hull City or that he never quite made his own at Southampton.

It's available at Boro and he's made it his own.

Ramirez is as natural a No.10 as you will find; possessing the spatial awareness to find himself a yard in the most dangerous of positions and the eye to pick out that killer pass.

As we've repeated over and over, he offers such crucial support to the striker as well. A danger of Boro's system is the frontman becoming isolated yet Ramirez's presence goes a long way to ensuring that isn't the case.

He had 59 touches against Stoke on Saturday. One was a header that teed up the Negredo goal, another a vicious strike that had the keeper beaten and was an inch away from beating the far post. Plenty of the others a delight to behold as his gifted left foot caused the Potters problems.

His passing accuracy was an impressive 73%. Usually your eyes would flit past the clearances column in the Opta stats but the two he made were of utmost importance in his own box as well.

If he can find regular displays of the incredibly high standard of that first half against Stoke then he'll worry many a Premier League defence. Including Southampton and Hull's.

Fans of those clubs may be slightly surprised but Aitor Karanka won't be. Nor will the Boro faithful. Or Nigel Adkins.

Getting the best out of such an "exciting talent" on a consistent basis could be so crucial to Boro's fortunes this season.