Former Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles admits http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 manager Andre Villas-Boas convinced him to move
Former Liverpool midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-Meireles-c30678 revealed he did not want to leave Anfield but decided to join Premier League rivals Chelsea towards the end of the summer transfer window when he felt he would not be a regular with the Reds in the new season. On
the other hand, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas asked the 28-year-old Portuguese midfielder to join him at Stamford Bridge and Meireles decided to accept his invitation.
Meireles moved to Stamford Bridge for an estimated fee of £12 million on the deadline day of the summer transfer window in a shock move. It earned the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Portugal-c2984 midfielder a lot of criticism for the move which was thought to be encouraged by a bigger pay
check. However, Meireles insisted that he did not move to Chelsea because of the money.
His move also drew comparisons to that of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707, the former Liverpool striker who also moved to Chelsea but in the January transfer window of last season. Like Torres, Meireles reportedly handed in a transfer request on the last day of the transfer
window. The new Chelsea midfielder claimed things weren’t entirely as they were made out to be by the Reds.
Meireles admitted that he enjoyed his time at http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 in the summer of 2010. He made 41 appearances in his first season at the club and went on to score five goals in addition to being crowned the PFA Fans’ Player
of the Year. The former Porto midfielder said he was somewhat flattered by the interest shown by the Blues manager, which is why he handed in the transfer request.
Meireles said in an interview:
“I felt that the new owners didn't want to sell me, but when I knew that Chelsea and Andre wanted me, it convinced me.”
With a list of Portuguese players at Stamford Bridge, Meireles admitted that had definitely helped him with his decision. The likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Luiz-c10542 are
all friends of Meireles. He said they had been extremely helpful after his move to Chelsea.
He said:
"I have a lot of friends here, Portuguese players that I know from Porto and the national team, and Jose Bosingwa helped me a lot in these first days.
While Meireles is not a typical goal scoring midfielder, he does have a habit of scoring on important occasions. He revealed he was not entirely picky about where he wanted to play and insisted he would be happy wherever the Portuguese manager chose to play
him. Meireles said he was looking forward to helping Chelsea achieve their aims this season.
Meireles continued:
“I like to play in midfield but for me it is more important that I play and I help the team so if the coach wants to put me in another place, I want to do my job and do my http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 well.”
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