Raul Meireles to Chelsea: An Overview

In a stunning last 30 minutes of the summer transfer window, Raul Meireles submitted a transfer request to Liverpool and conjured up a move to Chelsea FC.

It’s becoming a bit of a habit, ain’t it? Liverpool FC players joining Chelsea. First it was Benayoun, then there was Fernando Torres, and now there is Meireles. The fact remains that Benayoun and Fernando Torres haven’t left their mark on the club at all. Benayoun leaving for Arsenal is testament to that, tossing him out and bringing Meireles to essentially replace him.

Joe Cole, OUT (albeit on loan). Christian Poulsen, OUT. Milan Jovanovic, OUT. Konchesky, OUT. Raul Meireles, OUT. Personally, I never thought that Meireles would have been leaving on transfer deadline day, especially given the fact that we had enough men for cover in central midfield.

Unlike Fernando Torres….

This isn’t due to finding success (well, maybe this one a bit) somewhere else. This move ain’t fueled by money. Instead, this move is happening because he isn’t getting the game time with Liverpool and he knows that he won’t be able to get it this upcoming season, especially when Steven Gerrard makes his return from injury.

The fact is, that this isn’t completely his fault.

Did Liverpool Get a Good Deal?

I’d say that Liverpool got a pretty decent one for Meireles, although I still would have preferred if we took Sturridge as part of a part exchange. Something like 10 million pounds and Daniel Sturridge should have been what the best deal would have been for Liverpool. Had a great (half) season with Bolton last year and we needed a striker.

Frankly, I find him a lot better than Bellamy, but I guess I can’t be asking for too much. The fee of 15 million pounds or so for our Portuguese midfielder was just about right.

How Big of a Blow will this move have on Liverpool FC?

Judging by the current state of things, I would reckon that this would have barely any impact on the Liverpool team unless Lucas, Adam and/or Jordan Henderson were to get injured or suspended sometime over the International break. The short-term impact will barely be there, but it will be arguable that Jordan Henderson isn’t the right man for Liverpool in the center of the park….. yet.

Meireles indeed showed his class against Arsenal FC, where he wreaked havoc in the 20 minutes that he was on, whilst Henderson was perhaps less effective in his 70 minutes on the field. But then again, Suarez did come on at the same time as Meireles, so that would have been a key factor as well.

Overall…

It’s a good piece of business done by Kenny Dalglish. Meireles is already 28 years old, and he doesn’t seem to fit in with plans for the upcoming campaign with our midfield set-up seemingly set for a Downing-Adam-Lucas-Gerrard lineup, selling Meireles will help to balance the books following a summer of lavish spending from the Reds.

Including loans, Liverpool have allowed 19 players in total to move on. According to Telegraph’s Rory Smith, Liverpool have cut their wage bills by a total of 30 million pounds, with Jovanovic and Joe Cole’s contracts of 90k a week trimmed off.

	To	Reported Fee
Emiliano Insua	Sporting Lisbon	Undisclosed
Dani Pacheco	Atletico Madrid	Season loan
Peter Gulacsi	Hull City	Season loan
Stephen Darby	Rochdale	Season loan
Alberto Aquilani	AC Milan	Season loan
Martin Hansen	Bradford City	Loan
Nabil El Zhar	Levante	Free
Joe Cole	Lille	Season loan
Thomas Ince	Blackpool	Free
Christian Poulsen	Evian	Free
Phillip Degen	Released	Free
Milan Jovanovic	Anderlecht	Free
Raul Meireles	Chelsea	£15m
Paul Konchesky	Leicester City	£1.5m
Daniel Ayala	Norwich City	£800k
Chris Mavinga	Rennes	£1m
David Ngog	Bolton	£4m
Gerardo Bruna	Blackpool	Free
Sotirios Kyrgiakos	Wolfsburg	Undisclosed