One of the main rumours doing the rounds at Anfield this summer has been the reported departure of Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles just a year after moving to the club. While his debut season in England can said to be successful, would selling the 28 year-old on for a profit really be as crazy as it sounds?
Meireles arrived from Porto for a fee in the region of £11m and went onto make 33 league appearances for the club, pitching in with 5 goals and 7 assists in the process – a fine return by anyone’s standards.
Kenny Dalglish’s dramatic return to the club saw an upturn in fortunes for not only the club, but Meireles too as he began to thrive under the new management’s passing game. He went onto receive the PFA Fans Player of the Year award rather bafflingly if you ask me, but all in all an excellent debut season. However, bury a little deeper under the surface and his departure doesn’t look as crazy as it sounds.
While Meireles on the whole did have a fine season there was noticeable peaks and troughs in his form. He started the season, much like the rest of the side, in poor form. Roy Hodgson must shoulder most of the blame here though for pushing Meireles into an unfamiliar role on the right; very much a case of a square peg in a round hole.
Then there came his resurrection under Dalglish, which included a run of 5 goals in 6 games including a winner against Chelsea and a fantastic dipping volley against Wolves, before a dip in form towards the tail end of the campaign.
The problem with Meireles and his future at Liverpool is nothing to do with the player’s quality, it is more to do with what serviceable role he can play in the starting eleven going into next season.
After reportedly being made available for transfer this summer, the reasoning behind this unexpected rumour came into the light. Such was Meireles’s willingness to sign for the club and move to England that he signed on a relatively low deal with a promise made to review the contract at the end of the season and offer him better terms should he succeed – Meirelles has held up his end of the bargain, but FSG (Fenway Sports Group) appear to have reneged on their end of the deal.
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“”Meirelles has held up his end of the bargain, but FSG (Fenway Sports Group) appear to have reneged on their end of the deal””
FSG didn’t sign him, so they have not reneged on their end of the deal!!! As new owners they are going to reconsider ALL old deals made by the previous owners and they will make decisions they feel are best for the club.
I like Meireles, but will trust the club to make the right decisions …
RR
Were FSG in charge when Meireles was bought? I don’t think they were. If there was anything in Raul’s contract to that effect I am sure FSG would honour it (as they have with Kyriakos) However Raul is an excellent player and should be kept. I think his form improved not just because of Kenny’s passing game but more because the emphasis shifted to a more attacking game. I think Maxi benefited from the same. Of course Suarez had a lot to do with it as well. the main thing right now is to try to maintain our strength in depth.
He should stay with LFC. Quality and experienced player.
YNWA
Pure speculative regurgitated article; let’s await King Kenny’s next white rabbit out of the hat. Perhaps KK wants both Meireles and Adam. What FSG are trying to do is to get the ineffective / useless big earners off the books. LFC must have been considered a ‘soft-touch easy street’…. Cole £90k per wk, Poulsen £60k per week and unbelieveably Ngog @ £50k per week!!!!! Not the lads fault but totally incomprehensible and no wonder they’re in no hurry to leave; would you be?! In the KK’s day they were paid a good wage BUT could double their wages with ‘Win Bonuses’. Stating the obvious if there is an incentive to win then you’re likely to put a bit a bit more effort in I believe. Anyway keep the faith and believe in THE King…..YNWA
Aquilani is the name not Aquiline. Henderson has no chance of starting ahead of Meireles. Adam scored most of his goals from dead balls. Lets see him try to take one ahead of Gerrard or Suarez. We have a solid team what we lack is depth and a true winger. King Kenny is obviously aware of this and is proceeding accordingly. The author of article obviously has no facts to back up the gibberish. Let the King speak then you can write.