The Thinking Behind Chelsea’s Meireles Bid

The obvious calculation in Chelsea’s £8m bid plus Yossi Benayoun for Raul Meireles was that they felt the offer was worth as much as we paid for the Portuguese midfielder a year ago. The Reds bought Meireles for €13million last summer while Yossi Benayoun was sold to Chelsea for £5.5million. £8m + £5.5m is roughly €14m but there was never any chance of the Reds accepting any such deal.

Firstly, on numerous occasions this summer, it has been reported the Reds have made it abundantly clear to clubs interested in Raul that they will not accept a bid below or equal to what they paid for the player. One of the reasons for this is due to the fact Liverpool paid €13m for the player when he only had a year left on his contract at Porto. For this reason then, the Reds rate him a lot higher, especially due to the fact they are not desperate to sell the 28 year old, and because he is still on a long term contract.

Secondly, and more importantly, Benayoun is no longer worth £5.5million as he is now a year older at 31 years of age, and also because he has an injury plagued season, meaning he is now probably worth between £1-2m. In addition, according to the BBC also, although Arsenal, Lille and Liverpool were all said to be interested in signing Benayoun, the Reds interest was never really genuine as they had a first refusal written into the Israeli’s contract, which they are now no longer interested in enforcing.

So where does this leave Meireles and Benayoun? I hope Raul stays as he would definitely strengthen the depth in our squad this season, and will surely give the likes of Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam greater competition. His contribution against Arsenal especially demonstrates his importance to the first team and he certainly offers a different, and in some respects a better option, than the likes of Adam in some matches.

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