da bwin： 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?
da brwin： 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.
The uncertainty continues when analysing the potential formation that Dalglish may go for next season. Liverpool are certain to pair Carroll and Suarez together up top which leaves four other spots available in midfield should he go for a 4-4-2. Meirelles has a tendency to drift in and out of games and is certainly far too lightweight to play in central midfield in a four-man midfield. His experiment on the right of midfield delivered mixed results at best and with the pursuit of a left winger right near the top of the transfer agenda with concerns to re-strengthening over this summer’s transfer window and his options look limited.
Should Liverpool continue to pursue with the high-paced, interchangeable 4-5-1 formation that worked so well last season, with Suarez working off the top of the front man, then Meirelles could potentially play a role. But with Gerrard, Henderson, Aquiline (should he stay), Dirk Kuyt and whoever else may arrive and it becomes clear that while a desirable player, Meireles is certainly expendable.
Liverpool will look to tie up deals for both Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing this week and this could push Meireles further towards the exit door. Christian Poulsen and Joe Cole look likely to leave and so does Jonjo Shelvey, perhaps involved in a loan deal the other way to Blackpool in any potential Adam move. You would have to question the wisdom in letting a player of Meireles’s quality leave when the squad’s strength in depth is certainly questionable, but you can at least see the rationale behind it.
Meireles has no definable position and that is the major drawback and rather poetically, the major plus point behind keeping him. He is technically excellent and can be a match-winner on his day, but he is also equally and often as guilty at gifting away possession in dangerous areas and going missing for large swathes of a match.
Too much was made of Meireles’s first season in England – he was excellent in patches, but was disappointing as often as he was brilliant. If Liverpool can move him on for a significant profit; an unhappy 28 year-old on a long-term deal, then perhaps it would be best for all concerned.
Every club wants to keep their best players. Meireles is one of the most technically gifted players currently plying their trade in the Premier League, but you do have to question the wisdom on splashing out £80k upwards a week on an inconsistent 28 year-old – it is simply at odds with everything FSG are not only preaching but practicing too.
He is certainly an excellent creative midfielder, but whether he has a significant role to play in the future for the club is doubtful – and while on the face of it, it may reek of illogical, short-term thinking, there is certainly more method to the madness with concerns to the club’s long-term planning and their vision for the future than initially meets the eye.
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