As the price for Luka Modric continued to rise to almost extortionate amounts, the likelihood that Chelsea were going to look for a cheaper alternative increased in the closing days of the transfer window although few would have predicted that man being Liverpool’s Raul Meireles, joining Chelsea with only minutes left on the deadline day clock.
Despite enjoying an impressive first season for the Reds (in which he was a regular fixture, making 44 appearances) Meireles had oddly looked more like a substitute option for Kenny Daglish, new signings pushing him down the pecking order. There had been talk of the potential move in the lead up to deadline day, with a reported cash plus player deal initially rejected by the Reds. But Chelsea’s apparent desperation for midfield cover and a reported late transfer request from the player himself to push through the deal saw the Portuguese international move to Stamford Bridge in what was the one of the latest and most shocking moves on deadline day. But did Chelsea make the right choice in going for Meireles?
The apparent desperation of the deal (something that most late deals can be labeled as the transfer window draws to a close) does initially make you question what role Meireles will play in the team. He joined for £12 million, a reasonable fee based on his performances and a lot cheaper than any potential Modric deal but the midfielder will still need to perform in a Chelsea shirt to justify Andre Villas-Boas’ very late move in the transfer market. The obvious need for creativity in the centre of the park meant that Chelsea spent a lot of the summer chasing Modric and if Chelsea had managed to agree a deal with Tottenham, would Meireles have still been making the move to London?
But it seems very unfair to label Meireles, last season’s PFA Fans’ player of the year, as second choice. He enjoyed a very successful debut season at Liverpool, scoring five goals in six games during a productive month in early 2011 including finding the winner for Liverpool against Chelsea. During that period especially the 28-year-old showed how useful an acquisition he could be for any Premier League team, managing to score and assist goals when given the freedom to roam forward. He may not be as much of a direct creative force as Luka Modric (despite Meireles bettering Modric’s record of three goals and three assists last season) but he will offer versatility and should fit well into Villas-Boas’ 4-3-3 formation.
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But the success of the move for Meireles and Chelsea will depend on whether he can actually break into the Chelsea manager’s first team plans. The pair spent a very brief spell together at Porto before Meireles left for England so the Chelsea boss will have a good understanding of the player he has just acquired. But Meireles may have trouble displacing the likes of Frank Lampard, Ramires and John Mikel Obi, all of whom have potentially specific roles within the new manager’s midfield set-up. Meireles decision to move and Chelsea’s willingness to pay £12 million very late on for him will look like a terrible waste of Sky Sports News’ deadline day headlines if his Chelsea career goes the same way as another former Liverpool player to make the same move, Yossi Benayoun.
If Chelsea fans see the best of Meireles then he will look like a bargain compared to the hefty fees Chelsea were nearly prepared to pay for Modric but Meireles will have to be given enough of an opportunity at Chelsea to prove he is more than just a second choice panic buy.
Do you think Meireles will be a success at Chelsea?
If he turns out to be a good a buy as Torres, who knows? The sky’s the limit 😉
That must be a joke about Torres if he has brought Liverpool Tempo with him he will be a great buy if he has not he will be rubbish .
Dat is if AVB will be brave enough to drop lampard and give de man a chance.. Cech,ivanovic,luiz,terry,cole mikel,mereiles,ramirez. sturridge,torres,mata.
Drop lampard. Play meireles, torres.
D future of any mid fielder nw @ chelsea depends on avb and lampard.c wt hapened to benayoun,even after injuries,the under-firing frank and cowardly blues coaches could risk titles just for lampard to be playing.look @ machechran,his contemporaries are far above him almost playing for england all bcos of an out-form legend and cowardly coaches.i agree with joey’s selection.
I still wait for that chelsea manager who will be courageou to drop frank and give others the chance to prove themselve a manager like capello,AVB needs to give Josh and Raul the chance to prove themselve now or it will ruin chelsea title hope.
I agree with igo, until avb starts picking players based on form and not name we r goin to b in big trouble dis season..lampard, malouda and torres shld be dropped for the greater good of our club. For christ sake avb grow some balls
I agree with the need to have the strength of will to drop Lampard in favour of more in form players but hold on, one drop from England doesn’t end him, he still does his job in an evolving Chelsea, don’t forget off the ball too, just look at what happened to England against Wales when he was taken off! Cech; Boss; Luiz; JT; Cole; Mikel; Meireles; Lampard (Ramirez 60min), Mata, Sturridge, Torres (Anelka 60min)
Marc, u sound english and i wondet wat wil happen to chelsea in ur hands.IN MODERN FOOTBALL PLAYERS RE SELECTED BASED ON FORM AND CAPABILITY AND NOT BY NAME. LOOK WAT IS HAPPENING TO KAKA @MADRID COS OZIL PERFORMS BETTER. AT DIS POINT A BABY COACH SHOULD KNOW DAT EVEN PAUL SCHOLES IS MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN LAMPARD. HE SHOULD BE DROPED FOR GOOD. CECH iva, luiz, terry, cole, mikel, ramires, meireles, mata, sturidge, torres
And if this “baby” coach knew ONER thing about Lampard’s phyisiology it would be how long his abnormally large heart takes to get him fully match fit. he never starts a season well.
Raul is a squad player at best and a panic mistake at worst, not fit to be in the same sentence as Lampard and if you watch /Chelsea and don’;t know of Lamps unique physical attribute(which also means j=he stays fit when he gets fit) you know VERY little about a legend of the World game. Someone thing RM is not ever close to becoming. Stop knocking Lamps who has always been a more complete [player than the amazingly gifted Scholes.
Don’t worry about Nando, either, his stats are the
best of any top league striker this season.
back to play school and learn how to spell please,that was just terrible.
NO TIME FOR HYPOTHESIS AND GAMBLING AGAIN. AVB SHOULD KNOW HIS STARTING ELEVEN NOW OR FACE D AXE BY JANUARY