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.
The reasoning behind this change of heart is the emphasis being placed on offering higher wages to young, hungry and if at all possible, British players. At 28 years of age, Meireles is currently at odds with the wage bill at Anfield and the expected hike in wages, while once a formality, now looks uncertain and Liverpool are open to offers – they’ll surely make a profit on Hodgson’s only sound purchase while at the club and he won’t be short of takers.
Yes, by all means sell the talent. That should help us a lot – I don’t think!!!!
Spot on. Selling Raul would be a poor decision.
All because we have a yet to be seen Henderson, wantaway Aquilani, yet to recover Stevie G. AAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!
ha ha! Well said!
Lack of integrity on the part of FSG for not keeping their promise. Shame that people like you would like to provide excuses for such unwarranted behaviour. A tried and tested Raul is a better option than yet to be seen Henderson or wantaway Alberto Aquilani. I am not in the habit of calling people names; I will maintain that despite the temptations that come with articles like this one.
I honestly believe if Raul is playing the in-the-hole role which got him 5 ‘Golazos’ in 6 or so games he would be more consistent but then Kenny decided to play him on the left after that short run. That’s the other thing which bothers me, why is it that when Woy played Raul out wide there was a massive outcry from all quarters connected to LFC but when Kenny does it’s alright? Isn’t that double standards by the fans, bloggers, and media?????
How can FSG renege on a deal they didn’t make? He was signed under the previous owners. Unless it was actually in his contract then FSG have no legal commitment, maybe a moral one, but that’s a different argument.
Mate you’re dead wrong on this issue. The emphasis on signing young and British is being taken too far. 28 is not old and quite frankly when it comes to footballers British is far from being the best or having you been living on another planet for the last few years ? Meireles was easily our best player over the course of last season and definitely better than Henderson for example. If he moved on a low wage with a promise to review it then lets review it like we promises. Instead of haggling with Meireles we should move on some of the really high earners who don’t even play like Cole, Jovanovic, Ngog and many others.
This is most distressing news. This is not the ‘Liverpool Way’ the guy has been promised a pay rise. He has performed admirably and now he is being thrown to the wolves. On one hand we cry traitor to players wanting to leave the club ie. Masch and Torres but on the other hand the club is doing the exact same thing to a player who has sacrificed so much to come and play for us. Very disappointed ..YNWA
How did FSG reneg on an agreement when Raul signed a few months before they took over?
Quote: “but FSG (Fenway Sports Group) appear to have reneged on their end of the deal.”
FSG (then NESV) did not complete the purchase of the club until 15th October 2010, which was well after the transfer window shut. Therefore there was no ‘their end of the deal’, although they obviously inherited the contracts of each player!
Knowing Kenny has a liking for playing three central defenders, and Charlie Adam claiming his best position is central defence (even though he has never played there) maybe Kenny has something like this in mind. If so it would be a flexible role playing in front of two centrebacks using his passing ability to start attacks and dropping deeper when needed, I see this as an option as it allows full backs a bit more freedom to get forward reducing the need for wingers, It would also go some way to explaining the need for so many midfield players as this system would still leave room for Meireles, Lucas and Gerard and still plenty of backup on the bench In Henderson Aquilani etc… I think its a possibility for away games but leaves no room for three up front which is a must for home games.