Raul Meireles

[ronanm]

Good enough player but am not really bothered. Not sure what this defence is as he says nothing to suggest he didn't manufacture the move. Thickwit. He'll do sh1t there anyway. Chelsea are on the slide, we're on the march!

[dww]

Meireles didn't have any reason at all to leave. Torres for example you could understand why he left but I will never understand why Meireles left if you rule out money reasons.

And the champions league, first team football and potentially reneged on promises. Nope can't think of any at all

[Neil Young]

Well said, Dave.

[ronanm]

And the champions league. first team football and potentially reneged on promises. Nope can't think of any at all

He'll play less there than he did here I would say

[Neil Young]

Maybe he disagrees.

[ronanm]

Maybe he disagrees.

Maybe he does, maybe he does.

[Mostar]

This contradicts what Comolli said today how Raul left.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11668_7173167,00.html

Meireles - Reds broke promise

Raul Meireles has accused Liverpool of a broken promise and claimed that he was asked to submit a transfer request

Meireles made one of the latest moves on deadline day when he joined Chelsea for a reported £12million just before the cut-off point.

The 28-year-old revealed upon signing for Chelsea that he had never wanted to leave Anfield and that he would eventually explain why he had done so.

He has now attempted to set the record straight by revealing that he was asked to submit a transfer request once Liverpool had decided to sell him to the Blues.

Reports had suggested that Meireles was promised a 100 per cent pay rise at Liverpool if he impressed during what was his debut season.

"All I have to say is that I had one promise at Liverpool which wasn't fulfilled. "

Officially unveiled as a Stamford Bridge player on Monday afternoon, Meireles said: "All I have to say is that I had one promise at Liverpool which wasn't fulfilled.

"It's not the only thing to blame. But that's why the Liverpool fans are unsure why I left."

He added: "Liverpool asked me to hand in a transfer request, so that's normal."

Meireles admitted he was stunned to discover he had been made available for transfer.

"I was aware that Liverpool wanted to sell me in the summer, which was a bit surprising to me," said Meireles, who was reluctant to discuss his relationship with Reds boss Kenny Dalglish.

"There's no point touching this subject any more.

"I was a bit surprised, but now I'm just concentrating on my present and future, and that's with Chelsea."

Villas-Boas praise
Indeed, Meireles was delighted to have ended up at Stamford Bridge, saying: "When Chelsea showed interest, it was like a golden opportunity.

"I'm here now, it's a new adventure, and I want to do well here."

Meireles' move reunited him with Andre Villas-Boas, who he worked under during pre-season a year ago before joining Liverpool from Porto.

"I worked under Andre for one month at Porto, so I felt that there's the same mentality here as there was at Porto - the desire to win competitions and trophies. With Andre, we can do that," Meireles said ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League Group E opener against Bayer Leverkusen.

"In one month, it was enough to see how he works and his desire to win things. So it wasn't hard to make the decision to come to Chelsea."

[Norbs]

Has he thought that maybe he didn't 'impress' as much as he thinks he did

[McDermotX]

Blah, blah, blah

[BringbackBiscan]

Needs a haircut.

[Muddled]

I think there is probably an element of truth in what Meireles says to be honest.

[McDermotX]

Well to be honest I think most of what comes out of players, chairmen, agents and managers' mouths in situations like this is mostly pap, and usually some comments can be interperted to support or refute most people's conceptions of how certain situations developed.
All I know is "payrise if impressive enough" wouldn't exactly be what I would expect to see on a legally binding document which he and his agent negotiated with the club. Certainly not without some stipulation about appearances, performance rankings etc etc.
Only people who know for sure are those directly involved IMO

[Exiled_red]

It seems an odd thing to agree to, surely if this was agreed it would have been written into his contract? It's also foolish of him (or his agent) to agree to a word of mouth deal with owners who were looking to sell, even if the owners hadn't sold up would you trust the word of Hicks or Gillette

[Cormack74]

I think there is probably an element of truth in what Meireles says to be honest.

Possibly so; The story about a wage rise was doing the rounds long before the end of the transfer window.

[Muddled]

I'm just speculating, but I'd guess that Meireles was seen as surplus to requirements and a player we could get a decent fee for to balance our summer spending. He got miffed, but as Chelsea dragged their feet hoping to get Modric, the deal got the green light late in the day and we said he can go if he hands in a transfer request. Still miffed - and tied in with us going back on a pay rise - he duly obliged and off he went.

Perhaps that's why I feel no resentment towards him, or it could be because I wasn't bothered if he went when it all came out in the early stages of the transfer window.