According to Tuttosport in Italy, Inter’s Sporting Director Marco Branca has enquired about the availability of Liverpool’s Raul Meireles. For most Liverpool fans, the reaction to any enquiry from Inter would be met with a staunch rebuttal, but speculation has arisen over the 28 year old’s future in recent days.
For me, and many other Reds fans, the reaction is one of confusion as to why we would allow such a talented player to leave the club. The Portuguese international did take some time to settle, as any player would after moving from the Portuguese league, but he is gradually become an integral member of the team as the 2010/11 season progressed. His run of five goals in six games between January and February was certainly a highlight of the season, and his ability to pass with precision and to make some telling contributions in matches has led to much praise for the 28 year old. Still speculation persists, and I have listed a few reasons below that have been used as explanations for the sale talk.
No Place in Kenny’s XI – Raul has played wide right, wide left, central midfield and attacking midfield since he arrived at Anfield, and although the Portuguese international is very adaptable, Kenny Dalglish believes he has nowhere to fit the player into his starting eleven. The purchase of Jordan Henderson and the impending capture of Charlie Adam mean Meireles may have limited game time, and it maybe best to move the player on.
Contract Issues – It has also been speculated that Meireles signed a contract last summer in view to an increased wage hike if his first season was a success. According to the reports, it was an agreement put in place last summer by Roy Hodgson and the previous owners, but new owners Fenway Sports Group are unwilling to sanction an increase in wages for a 28 year old.
Age and Injury Problems – At 28, Meireles maybe in the prime of his career, but he is also at the peak of his saleable value, and combined with the niggling injuries he had last season, Dalglish, Comolli and FSG may believe it is the best economically to sell the player for the £14million being mooted, especially if they have younger players such as Henderson and Adam ready to replace him in the wings.
To make it clear, I am not saying that any of these reasons are actually true, but they have been used in reports to explain why Meireles maybe sold. I for one want Raul to stay at the club as I believe we will see the best of him next season. I still don’t understand why we are interested in Charlie Adam though, especially when Meireles plays in the same position and has many attributes superior to the Scot. If the 1st September comes around and we have BOTH Meireles and Adam in the squad to choose from though, we will have tremendous strength in depth and it could help us during the season.
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This week it is LFC WAG Clio Zenden!
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Surely there isn’t!!? Without doubt, my player of the season!
Really can’t understand why we are trying to buy Charlie Adam.
If a player is contributing well to the team the issue of their resale value should be of secondary importance.
I dnt understand why lfv are going to buying too much avarege players and selling key player such as Raul mareiles i hope this wont happen.Who knows if Adam and hendersan will adapt the team and steven G has a injury probe j spearing still young , lucas may strugle. i expect to see r marieles firs 11 next season and one of adam or hebdersan has be bench bt if they improve thy will get their chance bt i dnt see anyway lfc let mariles leave from the team
Id keep him another season, he had a gr8 season under King Kenny, why the need to sell him, its not like we need the money now. We need a big squad of quality players if we are to challenge the top 4 and challenge for the title, we aren’t in Europe so it would be even more beneficial for us because we will have players fit and note tired out. Also the likes of Henderson, Spearing, Shelvey etc would benefit playing with top class players along side them, just like Gerrard did under Houllier with the likes of, Berger, Smicer, Mcalister, Hamann, Murphy etc so i don’t think we should sell him.
This spending spree we are seeing is all to get back in the top 4 and if we do get in the top 4 the money we are spending will be back in the club, so it is a risk coz there are no guarantees, but the way we finished last season it all bodes well. Next season will be similar to that of Man City just had they’re main objective was to get in the top 4 aswell as challenging for the title. If we are in the top 4 come Feb/March time n within touching distance of the top then we can push for a title charge……YNWA
He’s NOT going anywhere!.We are trying to strenght, not weaken our team therefore selling one of our quality players while buying the inferior Adam makes no sense whatsoever!!!
It would be absolutely ridiculous if the club were to sell such a talented midfielder in Meireles, just because he wants to make space for the overrated Adam. Meireles is a proven Portuguese international who did well last season, considering it was his first season in England and will only get better next season. Adam, on the other hand, is clearly overrated and overpriced. The only reason he has been shining at Blackpool is because his teammates are rubbish League One standard players.
However, having said this, with old-fashioned managers like Kenny, it’s no surprise to see him favour British players like Adam instead of foreign players like Meireles. It’s clear that he wants younger and British players to play for him so I probably wouldn’t be too surprised if he sells Meireles to accommodate Adam.
Instead of selling Meireles, who was one of our better performers last season, why don’t Kenny sell Aquilani, Poulsen, Cole and his pet Spearing first? Selling Meireles makes no sense at all and his form last season suggests that he more than deserves to stay. To say that a quality Portuguese international has no place in Kenny’s team is ridiculous. To say that the club can’t sort out his contract issues is a poor excuse. If they want him to stay then surely honouring his agreement to increase his wages wouldn’t be a problem at all. To suggest that his age and injury problems is a concern is even worse. He’s 28, at his prime of his career who only had a couple of small injuries last season. There really is no reason to sell a player after just one successful season.
DALGLISH ARE U FOCUSSING ON 2015
thing is we dont know how much of a pay rise he may be able to get- fsg prob wont agree to it. I think raul has been very important to lfc though, and maybe if we can get rid of big earning, injury prone and/or average players like jovanovic and joe cole, degen, el zhar, insua, then maybe there is money to improve his contract?
I see your logic, but getting rid of the burden of Jovanovic, Cole, Degen and Poulsen is easier to say than do. Sure we could sell them but would they demand we pay part of their wages to move? Can’t see anyone paying Jova £60,000 per week can you?
Surely we’re better off just cutting our losses and letting the no hopers go though, even if we have to subsidise their exits, rather than paying them full wack to stick around discontented and grumbling about their lack of playing time (or taking up a space on the bench that could be handed to one of our talented reserves…)
I wouldn’t improve Meireles’ contract anyway though. Sounds like a bit of a joke to me – it’s like me just saying H&G promised me a job on the scouting department starting this season as long as I managed to keep my passport up to date; it’s not written into any contract or anything, just take my word on it!
WE WILL GO NOWHERE WITH THE AVERAGE PLAYERS ON THE TRANSFER OF KK(CLICHY-DOWNING-ADAM ETC)CLICHY IS CRAP.DOWNING IS OVERRATED.ADAM IS A GOOD BUT DO WE REALLY NEED A MIDFIELD PLAYER WHEN WE’VE MEREILES AND SO ON ?WE NEED AT LEAST 2-3 WORLDCLASS PLAYERS TO BE CONTENDERS.WHY BUYING YOUNG PLAYERS WHEN WE’VE THE BEST ACADEMY IN UK THANKS TO RAFA?WE WANT TROPHIES NOW NOT IN 4-5 YEARS.STILL HAVE SOME GOOD PLAYERS ON THE MARKET THE LIKES OF EDEN HAZARD-CAZORLA-LAVEZZI-JUAN MATA-ARDA TURAN-MARKO MARIN-AFFELAY-ERIKSEN LB SAKHO FROM PSG OR ENRIQUE NOT THAT CRAP OF CLICHY.BETTER TO HAVE QUALITY THAN QUANTITY IN CASE OF INJURIES WE STILL HAVE TALENTED PLAYERS IN SPEARING-KELLY-FLANAGAN-ROBINSON-PACHECO-SHELVEY-RAHEEM STERLING.MAN CITY UNITED CHELSEA ARE TARGETTING WORLD CLASS PLAYERS WE WE’RE ON AVERAGE ENGLISH PLAYERS WE WILL NEVER WIN TROPHIES RELYING ON YOUNG PLAYERS WITH OR WITHOUT DALGLISH TAKE ARSENAL AS EXAMPLE WAKE UP OPEN UR EYES
I think this is spot on, I have started to wonder where his place will be, and as the sayin goes out with the old and in with the new, he is a cracking footballer, but who knows whats going on behind closed doors he may not be settling in england off the pitch, he may be demanding big wages and if we got a good season from him and make a profit and use that money for a young player then happy days, if he wants to go let him go, just because its not allover skysports or the sun doesnt mean its not true, only dalglish and meireles know the truth, i would be sorry to see him go but if its better for the team to progress meaning henderson/shelvey gets plenty games then so be it, but if hes sold and adam to replace then that would be awful. but then adam is younger, cheaper and wages would be less
by the way mr tully may be and maybe are seperate words!!
I prefer that we build a team for today then worry about tomorrow…
Youngsters are supposed to be filtered into experienced sides to get the best for the club and player…
Otherwise we’re mo better than Arsenals B team who are pretty handy 🙂
Raul Stays!!
Joking aside. Charlie Adam would be a great addition to the side and definitely brings something to the party that we have been missing. Accurate passes, great set pieces and a bit of steal. Qualities required for the premier league. All of you throwing your toys out of the pram need to understand that foreign imports often find the physicality too much, ahem, Aqualani. We need him now, with the energy of Henderson, wisdom and creativity in the final third of Gerrard and Suarez. Smells like flying full backs will be the order of the day more often than not. Downing also great, a winger that can cross and is British. Again worth shelling out for him.
Once these transactions are sorted we have a great spine to fight for a Champions league place and then buy one of your flash fantasy football players from abroad.
Geez!
good call, except for downing, i dont rate his all round game
looks like KD will play diamond formation next season