New Chelsea signing Raul Meireles says money was not a factor in his last-minute move from Liverpool to Chelsea on transfer deadline day. The Portuguese midfielder has defended his part in the transfer after criticism from some Liverpool fans. "People think I am a Judas and that it was because of the money. It was not because of that," he said. "I will explain it later. I am not the only one to blame for my exit from Liverpool," added the 28-year-old. Meireles, who has linked up at Stamford Bridge with his former Porto coach Andre Villas-Boas, came off the substitutes' bench in Liverpool's opening two Premier League games, as new signings Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam were preferred by manager Kenny Dalglish. Despite the loan exits from Anfield of fellow midfielders Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani, Meireles handed in a transfer request in the final hour of the window, which paved the way for his move to London. "It all happened very fast. I will never stop loving the club [Liverpool] and I have great friends there," he told Radio e Televisao de Portugal. "The most important thing is to give my all every time and try to help Chelsea win titles. These are things that happen in football. I can only say good things about Liverpool. It was a fantastic year." Meireles, who won four Portuguese league titles with Porto, suffered a collarbone injury in his final Liverpool appearance against Exeter City in the Carling Cup. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14782434.stm Hmmm.... Thoughts? Chelsea fans, what do you think about Raul? Can he sort out your midfield issues? And why do you think he decided to go to Chelsea? Was AVB a big factor? Personally, I still believe it has something to do with the payrise he was promised under our previous ownership. I also believe he had issues with him being left on the bench in our games this season and not starting.
Even Meireles knows he can't use that as a reason because he was barely managed under AVB at FC Porto, AVB came in and Meireles went out within the same window, not really a lure there.
At the moment, we don't know the reasons but this bit caught my eye... It's clear to me that some internal issues have arisen and he feels that he can't stay at Liverpool... It will be interesting to find out why he left.
It might not have been "all" about money but lets not kid ourselves here. Whatever modern day footballers say...money is what motivates 95% of them 95% of the time. I'm not going to sit in judgement of them for that but I must admit I was surprised that a man like Meireles, who portrays the image of a bit of a hard man (until he tries to tackle someone) wasn't willing to put up more of a fight for his place in the team.
Let's not kid ourselves, every player has money on their mind somewhere in there. Even the "loyal till death do us part, kiss the badge till it melts" type. It's just going to reflect really badly on you if you actually admit to it, like if you admit to diving as that mug Theo Walcott did. More people had a go at him for it rather than commend his honesty. Why be honest about being deceitful and laugh it off as if we are all going to find it funny? I doubt the other team who it was against will. Where is the logic in that? Just clean up your act and don't do it again.
I couldn't really care less that he's gone, I would have liked more money from the deal.. 1 mil profit doesn't shriek of "PFA Fan's Player of the season." Then again, he was never really deserving of that title anyway, I even said so at the time before Chelsea fans jump down my throat. He has a decent short range pass on him, he will score you 5-7 goals a season, and possibly 4 or 5 assists. For an attacking midfielder, that's actually terrible. He was just as rubbish as the rest of the team during Hodgson's reign, and he benefitted from Kenny coming back like all the players did - but I think that had more to do with the players around him feeling their confidence returning and he was simply the guy on the end of the pass. If you want someone who can get into better spaces, you should have bought Maxi. If you wanted someone who could spray passes, and generally be a pass master then you should have bought Adam. I would put Adam before Meireles anytime.
Hopefully we will only ever hear one side of the story - his. If the club stick to their mantra of keeping all issues within the club then no statement will ever be made - just as it should be!
I think its 50% money and 50% playing time. The first few games have shown that Henderson, Adam, Downing, Kuyt and Gerrard (when fit) will all be picked ahead of him. Last year he was a big player who was an automatic pick for the 1st team, this year he's got alot of competition and some players dont like not being top dog. Anyone else think Chavski will have offered him a regular starting place in the team, along with the money.
I wouldn't be happy if I was player of the year only to be left on the bench for a chubby jock with the turning circle of the titanic that produces hollywood passes reaching their destination roughly 1/10 attempts!
It would actually be refreshing if a player did come out and say 'I moved for more money'. If they say they moved for sporting reasons (like winning trophies), why is it that they always conveniently get paid a lot more? If it was simply for trophies, there'd be little need to negotiate a contract, and even less need for agents.
Only player i can recall in recent times who's honestly moved for trophies is Arteta, actually took a pay cut to join arsenal. And antidistinctlymintly liverpool aren't a big club anymore, they were a big club, if you wanna be known as a big club again then best you boys get your asses into the champions league again
