Telegraph: Liverpool reject cash + Yossi for Meireles?

By: Jack | August 29th, 2011

Is this highly tattooed Portugese midfielder about to be pseudo reunited with Andre Villas-Boas?

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Year of the Dragon

The Telegraph among other sources – newspaper, Twitter and the like – have reported throughout the day that Chelsea have had a bid of around £8 million plus Yossi Benayoun for Raul Meireles rejected by Liverpool out of hand. To be honest, I find this one a bit weird.

As Jamie told your earlier, Yossi has been dicing out hints of an exit from Stamford Bridge for a while now. I think it’s pretty safe to say we all expect him to depart by Wednesday’s deadline. To Liverpool, though? Liverpool have been rumored as one of the interested parties, but that seems odd considering Benayoun lobbied for a move away from the club back in summer 2010. Where does a disgruntled 31-year-0ld creative mid fit in on Merseyside? Then again, Arsenal are said to be interested in the player, too, so who knows what’s going on.

Meireles, meanwhile, has been loosely linked with a move to Chelsea for some time now. Though the player moved on from Porto before he was able to really sit down and become a trusted crony of Villas-Boas, the coach is said to be a rather large admirer of his. Cool. It’s also been said for a minute that Meireles is ready to leave Liverpool, with Kenny Dalglish’s plethora of summer signings leaving him pretty much out of the picture as a concrete first XI selection. Meireles is a solid player and would be a very nice addition to our midfield. He’s far from an elite guy, but he will provide service for Fernando Torres as he likes to get the ball moving about. Good range of passing, too. And then there’s the tattoos. He brings those as well – bonus.

Nevertheless, I’m not sure how I feel about a deal. The Telegraph reckons we’ll come back with an improved offer, but I think the current one tabled, at least for me, is about the ceiling from our end. Maybe a few more million, but nothing more. Of course, Liverpool sympathizers reckon Meireles is worth two to three times what we offered. They’d like us to throw in Daniel Sturridge, too. And, yeah, that’s fucking laughable.

Another thing that’s clear is that Meireles wants football, and I’m not sure we can give it to him. We do need midfield help, sure, but Meireles isn’t the kind of guy who’s going to be an instant name on the teamsheet for Chelsea. How is that any different from his current situation? He would no doubt help us out, but we need a true game-changer alongside Ramires. Meireles, I’m sorry, is not that man.

So, in conclusion, this looks a poor move for all parties. Liverpool don’t want to sell, and we shouldn’t be inclined to waste silly money on a 28-year-old with a three-year shelf life tops. Just play Oriol. Plus, there are far better options out there for us at the moment. Paging Douglas Costa.

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Category: Player News, Transfer Rumors

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CharlieFineman

Meanwhile, Ulises Davila has been sent on loan to Vitesse. I was hoping we'd get to see the kid play, oh well. Hope we'll keep Piazon when he finally joins.
Joshua Sutton

Can we just sell Fat Frank? Yes, he's a Chelsea legend, but his usefulness expired last season and it should've been obvious to everyone.

He is consistently nonexistent when trying to break up opposition passes, and has spent more time falling in the box than anything remotely useful as of late.

He made his career off of late runs to the box, however, at his age and the declining pace that comes with it, those late runs are more likely to be "tardy" than on time.
Rograntham

Jack, have a cup of tea and sit down. What does Meireles offer? 7M the ceiling of your offer? hahahahhahahaaaaaaaaaaahahahaaaaaaaa
MikeyF

More than anything, this signals to me that AVB sees that Lampard is not a starting CM in his squad anymore. Josh is too young and inexperienced for game in game out. That is why Modric's price has gone up so high. Meireles would be serviceable in an advanced midfield role, but what about Moutinho? Why not spend 20m on him?
Thomas Hoppe

I think AVB looks at Lampard objectively and sees a player that needs to be carried for stretches of the match as his defensive positioning is fairly mediocre and he just can't run around all match. Meireles does those things well but he is nowhere near as poised in front of goal or on set pieces as Lampard. And as well, he isn't much for the actual tackling either. There are better options in between Meireles and Modric.
Gary

Meireles could be a one year filler till a better playmaker is found. But I
still expect Tottenham to sell Modric. It would be insane to keep a
player that is so demotivated when 40m is being offered.
iakobou

While not denying the quality of Meireles, I have my heart set on Modric. Hopefully something magical will happen to bring him to The Bridge.
Maysam

I wish Chelsea kept Yoosi and just added Modric. Yoosi is a decent player who can be very a super-sub.
brenton

I swear, you guys do it just to fuck with us. I look forward to the day Mata rips apart our fragile backline.

I think he would suit Arsenal more than Chelsea, and I also think he's a better player than perhaps you give him credit for. He was Liverpool's best player at times last season, and has an excellent passing range.
Jack

Oh don't get me wrong, I think Meireles is a fine player. I just don't see how a 28-year-old that's not a world beater is worth 15-plus and a Sturridge. He's just not.

And actually, yeah, I think Meireles would be a great signing for Arsenal. He would instantly improve you guys by a good margin.
brenton

A wooden spoon would improve us by a good margin at this point. But yah, I agree, not worth that price for you guys.
3345

what a bastard meireles is a mad player
ted

you are a clueless idiot...this is the worse shit i have read. go do some fishing, this is not for you.
Jake Gold Lion Westergaard

if you don't enjoy reading this, perhaps you should take up dick- eating?
Plastic Club.

Shush,Chelshit would always buy players that scored against them.
KTBFFH

FUCK OFF LIVERPOOL FC!
ALL YOU HAVE IS HISTORY!
YOU'RE A SHIT TEAM NOW AND LIVING IN THE PAST!
SO STICK YOUR HISTORY UP YOUR ASS!