You could see he was a good player in that Championship season he had. Some of the goals he scored and contributed to were really good bits of football. His positional play was great and he linked up well with the midfield. Just didn't have the physicality to be a top player in the PL.
It was obvious that he'd be away when Rafa went, the club was showing little to no ambition and yeah, 25m was a good fee for him at the time. No ill feeling towards him whatsoever.