Date: 1st September 2011 at 7:48am
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In a very late move yesterday (Wednesday), Liverpool agreed to sell midfielder Raul Meireles to Chelsea for a fee thought to be £12million. The Portugese midfielder had handed in a transfer request last night in a bid to push his move through to Chelsea, the exact same thing that Fernando Torres did in the January transfer window.

Liverpool had rejected a bid from Chelsea the previous day but when Meireles handed in a transfer request it left Liverpool with very few options but to sell him. The moment a player hands in a transfer request in my opinion, he has to be sold as he will not give his all any more at the club.

Now in Raul’s case, you can see why he wanted to leave Liverpool. He was going to struggle to make the Liverpool starting lineup this season following the arrivals of Henderson and Adam. I wonder though how much game-time he will get in the Chelsea starting lineup? The lure of linking up again with his ex-Porto manager Andre Villas-Boas would have been something that convinced Meireles into forcing through his move.

Chelsea would be very happy with this signing as they will be getting a quality player, he was named the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year last season and with Chelsea failing to sign Modric from Spurs, Raul was the next best option.

But where does this leave Liverpool? Have we weakened our squad by selling Meireles or was selling him for £12million a good bit of business for us?

Was selling Raul Meireles to Chelsea a good idea?

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104 responses to “Why Liverpool have sold Raul Meireles to Chelsea”

  1. tony says:

    I want to ask the question every liverpool supporters wants to ask why not then do swap deal for sturridge i dont get it

    • vik says:

      because Chelsea will never sell it, it is as good as Stoke asking Saurez for Huth…

    • murph says:

      short term this is a step backwards for us he was our most creative midfielder, it may threaten a top 4 finish for us.Medium/Long term may be a reasonable bit of business allowing to re invest the £12M and the cash from other sales in quality we need in other areas of the pitch.

  2. David Aris-Sutton says:

    It isn’t ideal selling such a good player to one of our EPL rivals but as you said, if he hands in a request he has to go. We have plenty of cover in that part of the pitch and if the fee of £12m is accurate then it its a reasonable return on investment.

    @tony perhaps Chelsea didn’t want to let him go, maybe he didn’t want to come or even maybe Kenny didn’t want him

  3. Zico says:

    He’s 28 (which is youth policy for Chelscum) and we didn’t have to pay off his contract as he requested the move.

    Move on, don’t look back, hope he’s as successful as Torres there !!

    • LFChris says:

      Exactly, couldn’t agree more

    • jilah says:

      yes..totally agree!! we have to move…why we wanna to talk about player that handed the transfer request…remember King Kenny said ” Nothing bigger than the club!” we wanna those who wanna to play for LIVERPOOL F.C!

      • Mohamed says:

        LFC is bigger than any player with all do respect to all players… I am sure he will have plenty of playing time and success at Chelsea as Torres… This club is a dream to any player who loves football, but is a player can’t feel the privilege for playing for this club then it is ok, let him go and at the end of the day LFC is the winner.

  4. Lojd says:

    I think this is a big big mistake by Liverpool.
    With Meireles at Chelski, Tosseres will finally get the service from the center, that Lampard has failed to provide him. I can see Tosseres scoring loads of goals now. I also see the slow demise of Lampard, as he will be slowly replaced Meireles in the center.
    I can’t believe LFC sold such a quality player (Our Player of the year) to an arch rival like Chelski. The sell figure is non- disclosed. I can only imagine Chelski paid LFC 20 mill+.
    Even if this is the case I would not have sold him, but I am looking to the future with the likes of Hazard probably joining, now that we have first refusal.

    Good luck Meireles, I hope you play as well as Tosseres. And thanks for the Rubels Chelski

    • King Kong says:

      Even with Meireles Torres wasn’t scoring. Torres starting playing when Kenny took over. What makes you think Meireles will be playing ahead of a crowded midfield of Lampard, Mata, Malouda, Kalou, Remirez, Mikel, Essien, etc? Don’t forget Meireles only plays well in the middle. If Chelsea plays 442 he’d be fighting for 1 spot against 4 other players since Lampard will be there. It’s the same as in Liverpool. The only diff is his contract is 90k a week compared to 55k at Liverpool. Yes that’s right he moved on for money. Btw Lucas is our Player of the Season. So that makes you a fake fan.

    • qrishendo says:

      Raul meireles only had LFC player of the month award and not year..you were wrong!Lucas is our Lfc Player Of The Year..that’s why King Kenny choose Lucas to stay instead..

  5. Jevon says:

    Quite simple really, they didnt want to sell him.

  6. Raul says:

    LOL. That’s what happens when you swallow the media’s bull hook line and sinker. Sturidge was never going to leave Chelsea. Anyone that watched his pre-season would have known that he was going to be a permanent fixture in Chelsea’s squad this season

  7. Shittu says:

    I know that leaving of raul will not affect liverpool.

  8. bobbiDanger says:

    I don’t care. I think the squad is much stronger now after the transfer window, with or without Raul. He is just a player, a player that got injured often.

    Gerrard will return soon enough and you will forget Raul. January will come around and Dalglish and Company will have plenty of cash to shop around.

    Raul is a good player but so what. Anybody stop and think how weird it is Chelsea keep snapping up Liverpool players? Lot of good it does them…

    How about throwing Bellamy into the mix? Forget Raul, he is gone.

    • Peppy says:

      Merieles has not been injured for long periods, unlike Gerrard!

      Where is our depth in midfield that Kenny was on about after the Arsenal game???

      We have Henderson and Adam who are the creative players, Gerrard is crocked for too longer time. That is 2 players!

      Merieles was the other option, and linked up with Suarez better than any other player, that is gone now, and who replaced him?

      Nobody! Poor transfer action simple as.

      • Chan says:

        Well said, as i said, Raul is being replaced by passports not better players.

      • RED says:

        You are either a plastic fan or you have clearly forgotten Lucas who was our player of the year, Spearing who has been in outstanding form under King Kenny, Jonjo who looks a great prospect. Never mind the fact that we have quality out on the wings in the shape of Downing, Rodriguez who scores for fun under Daglish and the engine that is Dirk Kuyt, so with Henderson and Adam and Gerrard that leaves Nine players for 4 midfield positions, how much depth do you want?

      • Rich says:

        what? 2 midfielders obviously you have forgotten about lucas who has been brilliant and thats coming from someone who has wanted him out but the way he has played recently has to be applauded gerrard, henderson, adam, maxi, downing and the one everybody keeps forgeting about the one who deserves the chance more than anyone to shine again spearing, not to mention the youngsters who COULD be given a chance coady, suso, sterling, and theres more but getting bored of remeberin names merieles average player who only played a handfull of good games and only featured for 20 mins this season and we have still been brilliant

      • joseph says:

        He linked well with Suarez because he is a top class attacking midfielder where Adam and Henderson are not., At least no yet. Raul can keep the ball under pressure, and is technical enough to find the difficult and telling pass. you could imagine dropping Raul into the Barca midfield machine and keep it running smoothly. Adam? Henderson? not a chance. Raul has 47 caps for Portugal, number 8 in FIFA rankings. Portugal’s best attacking play flows through Raul. Adam barely gets a game for Scotland. We have plenty of all action, hard tackling fellows with British passports and little technique. Why is there no room for such a player as Raul? My theory is that this LFC squad was built to challenge for 4th and no higher. Chelsea has 3rd sewn up now. If we nose Arsenal and Spurs and have CL footy next year, we’ll then buy a number 10 and an exciting RM. Until then “commitment” will have to do.

      • James says:

        People keep saying he linked up well with Suarez in the Arsenal game…that’s as good as me saying Ngog is the best striker in the world because he scored one goal against Arsenal! Yes he linked up at times…but he wasn’t all that great, I would rather have a “crooked” all round CM like Gerrard, who has the balls to go into a tackle, rather than a CAM, who sometimes got his passes on the money! I think he might need to invest in some air con as the Chelsea bench is just about to get very warm!!!

  9. Chuck says:

    I don’t believe that you have to sell a player because he says he wants to go. They are professional and can be held to their contracts like anyone else. Arsenal, for example, said no to Fabargas last year but presumably because of his value declining as his contract term became shorter this year, Arsenal were forced to sell. Had Meireles been refused with reasons given, I suspect he would have remained a good player. Why did we sell, then? In terms of the trading practice (policy?)it was a good time to move him on as his value would start dropping given his age and the shortening time left on his contract. By selling him at a reasonably good price with no extra because he asked for the transfer, it helps balance the books (as does his removal from the salary budget), but perhaps more importantly it gives younger players like Shelvey, who are the future of the club, more chance to play, thus helping the

  10. David says:

    He’s 28 plenty of cover wanted to go so let him go and also ok he’s good but not great and look how torres and benayoun r doin now after asking to leave LFC to go to Chelsea its never a good thing to ask to leave LFC if u leave its because  you’re told to u don’t ask

  11. Milo says:

    “The important players are the players that want to be here and wear the colours with pride.” Get over it, guys. Let’s look ahead to Stoke and with a win in the pocket, by the end of the final whistle, all is forgotten. (especially when Chelski falls short against Sunderland) Smile and be thankful.. It’s gonna be beautiful.

  12. vishnu says:

    First selling for an rival club is an worse idea then selling for 12million is worst bit of business v paid 12million euros for an player while he was in his last year of his contract but now v sold him lesser than the market value so its an worst business of the summer and best bit of business for chelsea

  13. edy says:

    lets him go…nothing to lose. player ez go ez come.

  14. Bekim says:

    I’m not bothered at all that he’s gone. Happy with the players we have signed. My only wish was to sign A Jonson from City. Maybe in january. YNWA

  15. Neil says:

    Seriously!?!? ( he’s a great player mwah, mwah, Kennys gone crazy mwahmwah)Cmon did any of you actually watch his performances last year and i mean at anfield??? I did, ive never seen a player shit out of so many tackles in a red shirt before! The guy went missing for large part of alot of games, has alot of injuries and everyone is crying over him because he looked tidy on the ball. He had a purple patch of about 6 games and other than that offered nothing, especially in away games! Too lightweight! Wont pull up any trees at chelsea trust me. JFT96

    • Steve says:

      Bang on Neil, exactly what I was thinking. I think people were blinded by the fact he scored like 5 in 6 games, other than that he did nothing. And people going on about how he changed things against Arsenal? Oh please, an awful Arsenal team that were down to 10 men. If anyone changed it it was Suarez.
      All in all I’m not sad in the slightest, adios Raul.

      • Chan says:

        Ok, Meireless was good not great but why did KK paid 35 mill for a certain Andy Carroll?

        And what did our 35 mill man contributed in the Arsenal game against a team deemed “awful”?

        Can you please compare that with Meireless contribution.

        • Simmo575 says:

          Andy Carroll is young and will be a classy player when he finds his feet. He is a great headder of the ball and has an outstanding left peg. If you were a true fan and had investigated the matter you would also know that we did not pay anything like £35mil (which is the gutter press bolloks that has picked up to sell newspapers). The actual fee is thought to be £29m.

        • joseph says:

          LOL. yes, by that standard what color was Carroll’s patch? Not purple. Has Raul not outscored our 35 million striker while in a red shirt? Raul had a purple patch because he got a run of games. How long do we wait for Andy to come ’round?

      • LFC FAN says:

        Ya !!!! Suarez far more better than Raul. Forgetting him like we forgot Torres would be good for us.

    • Noura says:

      Totallyyy agree!!! he really isnt super, he is good but not great.. so why have a good overseas hire when we can and should have the best overseas hires if we are to have any!!! this should be our mentality… I think we got used to accepting ok players because we had no choice! but now!! we can really dream again!!!! so let us do that! As for sturrige, i think he doesnt want to join liverpool, they could have been ok with it, but he thinks hes at chelsea the big club being a kid thats what you think… but he will soooonnnn regret it!kids do not all understand the idea of honor and pride that LFC voices… so there are better out there!!! NO WORRIES!!!

  16. Chris says:

    WORST TRANSFER OF THE WINDOW! After all the good work, we sell our player of the season and the one player (apart from Suarez) who made a difference in the Arsenal game. I am simply staggered that we sell him for barely a profit, and prob a loss after including his wages. Basically we have bedded him into the premiership for Chelsea. Ok there appears to be contract issues but unless he was asking for £200k a week, we should have paid him.

    This stinks of what Benitez did to Alonso, he’s only handed in a transfer request because Kenny and Comolli have been touting him round Europe all summer, don’t blame him. I really think we will rue this decision. He is perfect to fill Gerrard’s boots when he’s injured. Henderson isn’t ready yet, Kuyt doesn’t have the eye for a pass, Adam isn’t as good, in fact pretty average, and Lucas much deeper.

    AVB must be wetting himself that he’s done this deal.

    We now have lost our experienced bench, well done Kenny.

    • Chan says:

      Chris, i think we have become a feeder club to Chelski.

      Spot on when you said we are bedding Raul in the Prem for Chelsea and also on the Alonso saga.

      Is this our much touted “Liverpool Way” Kenny?

      • michael says:

        haha a feeder club to chelsea sorry an injury muddled threesome of Torres,Yossi and Raul. Think it is good business, we have made 60+ mil out of them in six months.

    • Mohamed says:

      with all do respect, Raul was not our player of the season, Lucas was… guys, if a player doesn’t want to stay then it is ok, sell him and move on, things will only get better, and I am sure he will be as successful in Chelsea as our other Liverpool players been at chelsea.

  17. Danny says:

    Could meireles pick a pass like Adam? or could he run the mancs defence like Suarez? or more to the point could he score a wonder goal like Gerrard instanbul 2005 and FA cup 2006 I think the answer is No! Meireles played well under Daglish. Fuck id play well under Daglish we have a team of quality and depth now all through the squad I say good luck we’ll do our thing and they can do there’s. I just want to say thanks to KK DC AND FSG!!!!

  18. Kenny says:

    I have no problem with Meireles leaving. The annoyance is over the fact that the club has still not acquired a second goalscoring option up front. Even Bryan Ruiz would have been a decent signing at 10 million but it is clear that FSG wanted to claw some money back. Bellamy was never a big goalscorer even in his prime. It is poor business to give him a 2-year contract on those high wages.

  19. lgREDS says:

    WORST Business Imaginable considering all Aspects surrounding the player !! Only accepted minimum bet would have been STurridge swap !! But…May b even a min of 16 + mil would b ok !! And really wished to see Adam Johnson in REDS jersey ! so many options and flexibility going forward !would b perfectly balanced !! But Return Of BELLAMY ! he’s a RED and a good player too !!
    ALL THE BEST U MIGHTY REDS !!! WE NEED SOME SILVERWARE THIS SEASON NO EXCUSES !! “TOGETHER WE CAN IN STYLE” !!!

    • Chan says:

      @lreds, all of us love silverwares but don’t bet on it just yet.

      Say hi to our new role as feeder club to Chelski courtesy of KK and Comolli.

      With better effort maybe we could do the same for Manure but with better profits eh? What say you KK and DC ?

  20. Eruaga mark says:

    If a player wish to go let it be. Liverpool is a club dat is bigger dan anyplayer.we are stronger dan ever. Let king kenny go for player like RoDELIGA by jenuary to replace Andy carrol for we shall be d best.

    • Rich says:

      will people get off carrol’s back he is not a player who will get the ball in his own half beat 5 players then bury it in the top corner or he’s not going to be a 30 goal a season player the rest of the liverpool team have to get used to the way he plays and thats not up and over, the midfield have to get closer to him when he knocks it down he will come good don’t forget it took crouch about 11 games to score his first goal for liverpool and he went on to be brilliant for us and benitez treated him badly

  21. Paul F says:

    Why all the wasted chat, some negative people out there in delusional blog chat land … The business was done by the people who make the decisions, Raul wanted to go, so good policy is to let that happen or force them to stay and expect commitment? no chance, does not work that way …
    For around 30m (over the 2 transfer windows) LFC have reshaped the team, what can we say, except respect for those involved in the club. Now, lets sit back and support our team as they now set to work with a minimum of top 4 position and just maybe a sneeky bit of sliverwear, you never know … lol

    • Simmo575 says:

      Well said. We have just had the best transfer window success in memory and have come out of it with 5 very high quality players, and all people can do is bitch about a player who is almost 29 years old and no longer wanted to play for us.

      He was a good bench player and that is that. He was not Gerrard or Suarez (or even Torres come to that), he was a good sub. We got over £12 million for that sub, some even say £15m,which in my opinion was too much money to refuse. That will go to the next Suarez in the January transfer window and is ESSENTIAL as we now have to work within the fair play rules, not spending more than we earn.

  22. leeon says:

    huh cant see meireles fitting in chelse squad becuz he is no the fastest and gets nakard very soon and also becuz of player like lampard, maluoda, mata, essien, remer, kalou and remerez etc…. all done for good we got atleast 12m + 4m about 16m whihc means that we can look at better players then merelies for example adam jhonsen….

  23. David Mulligan says:

    Well we can only register 25 players and we have a strong squad to do that now. Also now we will have an extremely strong bench to change a game. Bench will be Doni, Skrtle, Spearing, Carrol and Bellamy. thats leaving out the likes of Maxi, Shelvey, Johnson, Coates and Aurelio who can all step in to the team if needed. Fact is Bellamy will be a better impact player late on in games than Meireles. Just hope we don’t now suffer injury karma in that area of the pitch. We got the LB, CD and Striker we needed to make a title push. YNWA. Kenny knows what he’s at.

  24. Chan says:

    The reason our player of the year last season handed in a transfer is b’cos:

    1) He was denied a pay rise as promised to him if he did well, which he did by the way.

    2) Pushed down the pecking order by players much inferior to him just because they have a British passport.

    I had been a fan of LFC and KK since 1986 but i really do not get it, as with millions others. Why ;

    1) Did we sell one of our best players to strengthen our rival?

    2) Only for minimal value?

    3) Not play him but instead opted to give game time to players who are not even fit to carry his shoes?

    4) Did not insist on getting Sturridge who is young, British, a striker (what we needed) and with potential?

    5) What strength in depth are we talking about with this sale?

    Raul was simply one of our best player and dedicated. Look how he changed the game when he came on against Arsenal. Is this the Liverpool way as we know it? Is this how we treat players who gave their all to us when playing in our shirt?

    KK would have a lot of explaning to do. There is a reason why Raul was voted player of the season. Watch this space, Raul would come back to haunt us.

    I together with millions of fans are really dissapointed with this move. Are we really moving forward?

    • Rich says:

      kenny is the king he doesn’t have to explain himself to anyone we were dead and burried and he resurrected us i haven’t liked all the signings he’s brought in but i still trust him and we should all trust him we are third in the league we with two teams above us and those two teams we battered towards the end of last season why can’t we all just enjoy this season cause even without the so called great player who only scored 5 goals in six games and then did nothing for any other times, this season is gonna be exciting for us and he wasn’t player of the season lucas was

      • Matu says:

        I can’t disagree with you more Rich,

        I go to games, I watch on sky and I buy the shirts and scarves that all feed money into the club. We do deserve an explanation why certain things happened if things don’t work out.

        This transfer makes sure we will finish below Chelsea. Very disappointing when we could have finished above Chelsea and been in the title race if we’d have kept him.

        Now we have Adam starting (nowhere near Raul’s level, no matter what anyone says) and have either Shelvey (lmao) or Spearing as back-up. Very poor indeed!

  25. Will Piper says:

    Personally would not have sold Meireles to Chelsea as they are a rival club for European football and by selling him to them we are making them a stronger team.

    After his performance against Arsenal I thought he still had more to offer us, but he handed in a transfer request and I completely agree with Tony about offloading players who do not want to play for the club plus we are cutting the wage budget by letting him move on. Meireles had a good season for us last year but after the recruitment o Henderson and Adam he will not get much of a look in.

    Best of luck to him in his career, just hope he fails miserably at Chelsea just as Torres has. YNWA

  26. didi says:

    i think it was a good decision,he scored some good goals last season,but was bad defense wise.lets be honest here the team looked better without him against bolton.i think suarez will link up with bellamy as much as raul or anyone else.no player is bigger than the club.the overall picture is a lot easier on the eye than last season.cant wait for a full squad picture with the new recruits,go on the reds!

  27. Gerrardious says:

    y do u guys keep banging on and on about Sturridge. reminds me of Mata. I dont see the planet where Sturridge is beta dan Bellamy. We already have a world class striker in Suarez and a young promising International in Carroll. so wot’s the noise about after gettin an experienced tested and (most excitingly) pacey striker in Bellamy? Besides, how do u know he wants to leave or Chelsea wants to sell him?
    As regards Meireles, am not so sad we lost him. yes he looked like the alternative offensive Midfielder to Gerrard but he flatters to deceive sometimes. He CANNOT tackle, he’s gettin old and already eclipsing his market value and his range of passing is not good enough for a top midfielder. most people only consider his little run of form over a couple matches last season. Admittedly, he’s agile, has good movement, a bit of trickery and very good shot on both feet. his fitness also comes into question as he tends to pick up a couple of niggling injuries. we can no longer boast of depth in midfield again, but then, if Gerrard comes back fit and beta, nobody will miss him. Gerard hasn’t always been injury prone other than the past 2 seasons where there were issues with prolonged treatment because Aqua was either injured or playin like a lady (well isn’t he? ). he’s had enough time to rest so if if says he’s gonna come back beta, I believe him. we can always get a replacement in January so cheer up guys. If we got at least 15m for him, I’ld say its a good piece of business.
    Dalglish is trying to build a team that compliment each other perfectly. Meirie posed an handicap player (sort of). I am officially a ‘Lfc + Abrahamovic’ fan now. the man tends to care for our finances. lol.
    U guys just relax, get some popcorn and enjoy the season. would be interesting to see who we buy though.

  28. gdlasdgjjl says:

    how come liverpool fans say that meireless is getting old?? oh yes, gerrard is getting younger..and by the way, it was meireless and swarez who changed the game against arsenal..before they came arsenal was the better team…and now what happens..dont know.. To gerradious—how do you compare sturridge with bellamy…having a laugh at you–you fool gerradious

    • m kop says:

      Someone with realistic view.

      The most we can expect from Liverpool is CL spot but a place in Europe would be fine too.

      Arsenal seems down but they can resurrect as Wenger is top manager.

      Also Tottenham, have not sold anyone important, still they have Bale, Modri? and good team all around.
      If they only had someone like Suarez they would be up there with Utd. and Chelsea.

      5 teams were ahead of LFC in PL last season and none exept Arsenal has weekend their team in transfer window.

      As for Liverpool transfer dealings, if Adam is better than Meireles Chelsea could have gotten him with ease.

  29. let’s change the name of chelsea football club to LIVERPOOL RESERVE TEAM

  30. m kop says:

    So Liverpool has lost their best midfielder in the last season but hey, they got an old troublemaker in so we should be happy.
    I compleatly understand what Henry ment when he said Liverpool is not for the title just yet, but he actually meant Liverpool is not for the title ever again.
    How can you compete with Chelsea, they get Torres, Liverpool gets Carroll, they get Mata, LFC gets Downing, LFC has Lucas they have Ramires, now they got Meireles and Liverpool got Craig Bellamy coming back to the club after being sold for not being good enough!
    If Liverpool at least used Meireles to get Sturridge it would make sence in a way but this…
    That money is straight to the owners pockets, if Raul was sold next year the transfer money could have been reinvested but like this Liverpool has just lost a player and next year you can only spend what you make.
    Liverpool is not making a lot of money, no CL!
    If Liverpool at least got Sturridge in that deal, but Chelsea will rather wait and sell him next year. They are thinking about their future.

    • Matt says:

      Hahaha M KOP you fool. You saying Ramires is better than Lucas?? Meireles money straight to the owners pockets…where have you been? You do know Hicks and Gillett left last year right?

      • m kop says:

        If Liverpool uses this money to get someone in January than OK, but if they wait until next summer they will only be allowed to spend what they make.
        I dont think transfer fee they received now will count as profit.
        If you understand what I’m saying.

        Liverpool is without CL income which means that clubs that play CL can invest more next year, not to mention those with bigger stadium.

        Oh, and someone has promised a new stadium but didn’t really get around to it. Ring a bell!

        • Matt says:

          No i dont really understand…FSG have not promised a new stadium. They have said they will explore all avenues available. And more importantly will take time to find the best solution for LFC. not make ridiculus statements like ‘spade in the ground in x amount of days…’

          You really are deluded if your comparing John Henry to H+G. Why will we only be allowed to spend what we bring in?? Even if thats true we will be in CL next year not to mention the money from new kit deal starting next season… Just have faith do you not remember what it was like this time last year? We are haeding in totally the opposite direction… & that is up!!

          • m kop says:

            Ok they didn’t promise new stadium. They said “we’ll look in to it”.
            Very reassuring.

            But they did promise to buy only young players for the future and we see Bellamy flying in on a helicopter.

            That’s the one for the future.

      • Rich says:

        mkop u say we can’t compete with chelsea and u use torres as an example of all people carroll has scored more than torres in half the games just because a player costs millions (50mill in his case haha) doesn’t mean there good and mata has to prove himself

        • marco says:

          You can not posibly say that Carroll is better than Torres regardles how poor his form was.
          Besides, Torres was good for Liverpool, just imagine Torres-Suarez partnership.

          Matt are you sure about CL next season?

          Yea these owners are better but it takes forever to get a new stadium regarldes of what they said.
          No stadium no revenue, no revenue no spending.

          • Matu says:

            F**k Torres – When was the last time he scored? Need to look through the history books to find that out.

            When we played Valencia, Mata didn’t even look like he was there and Downing was excellent. IN fact, how can anyone question Downing when he’s been brilliant in every game?

            Lucas is a top player and I wish the absolute f**king idiots would STFU slagging him off.

            And Bellamy not good enough for Liverpool? ROFLMAO!
            Yet when he played for Man City (who had far better strikers than Liverpool at the time), he was their best striker.

            You know F all about football!

  31. Chris says:

    Not really sure I’m that fussed by Sturridge, he looks ok, but not massively impressed. Chelsea needed him to keep their homegrown quota up, so no way they would sell.

    M Kop – Lucas is much better than Ramieres!

    I think potentially Fulham have the biggest coup getting Ruiz for £10m. Quality player and I’d def have taken him for the blasting down the right.

    I think the chat about Chelsea feeder is a little premature. They took Torres for a Kings Ransom and he’s flopped. Benyoun was a bit part for us and a no part for them. Ok, Meireles I’m not happy about but otherwise don’t fret too much. If they took Suarez then I’d be upset!

  32. Gerrardious says:

    @GDLASD: a fit Gerrard even at his age is a beta and more complete in EVERY way than Meireles could ever be. Am glad u mentioned the age issue. am not saying Meire is the oldest man in the squad. If Gerrard and Meire are both (past or approaching) 30, is it not common sense to offload 1 of them if a good offer comes in? keeping Gerrard is a no-brainer and truth be told, Meire is not good n fit enough to effectively replace Gerrard over the next couple of years.
    I have nothing against Sturridge. he’s young, very promising, got some trickery and is exciting to watch. The question is which of St urr & Bella would u rather have if u want to win or/and push for trophies ‘immediately’? Bellamy while not being the most prolific finisher is beta, stronger, faster, more effective, more versatile, and proven at every stage.
    Sturridge kinda cuts the ‘Babel’ figure. exciting every now and then but am I the only one who wanders y he doesnt get a look-in for both club and country?
    wot u dont realise is that we need at least 3 quality strikers, not 2 strikers and 1 backup. We need a striker who’ll come of the bench and would be expected to make an impact because of the quality and experience we all know he has, not put much pressure on a young player. didnt u learn anything from the N’gog scenario? (though I wouldn’t expect u to seeing dat ur reasoning is 1-sided).
    Bellamy was arguably City’s most influencial player in the 2009/2010 season. when u get past ur wishful thinkin and short-sightedness, u’ll realise dat gettin a quality versatile and proven player for free can only be a good piece of business.
    If u av an argument (which I very much doubt), present it and stop being a cowardly thwart who cant even use his name.

  33. Thommo says:

    Delighted he’s gone. He was decent for two months. Shinned one in against wolves(!) and Chelsea….and er…thats it. A more complete fairweather player I’ve not seen in many a year.

    Consider this. Since July 2010 Liverpool have taken close to £70 million quid from Chelsea…..who got the better deal? I’ll give you a clue : they dont play in blue.

  34. david says:

    Reports say that chelsea pay 15 million pound for him. thats why they sold him

  35. john says:

    get over it,meireles wanted a better contract and wanted to hook up with avb,hes 28,goes in to a tackle too soft,i never knew what all the fuss was about,ok hes a class player but not world class.move on,no-ones bigger than the club.interested to know the transfer fee.

  36. Dave says:

    Miereles has not been first choice since the season started so there is no chance he would be first choice when Gerrard gets back. He is a very useful player and good cover for Gerrard and offers a different way of playing than Adam. I think however that Henderson has similar capability and vision as Miereles if not quite there yet experience wise. It is not fair to keep Miereles if we can’t offer him the football and 12 million is a fair price given his age and ability. I would have rather kept him for depth, but what can you do when a player wants to leave.
    As for Bellamy, I would hope he is not on 90,000, but that aside I think he will score some important goals for us and will take some of the burden off of Suarez.
    It would be ridiculous to think we can build the perfect team from one summer. The important thing is we have already taken huge strides. If we qualify for the CL and keep our best players I have the feeling next summer we will see another marquee signing like Suarez and then we can really start to be optimistic

  37. Redsy says:

    Think KK had been wanting to sell him on but rejected e bid for Raul to hand in a trf request. This is shrewd piece of work from e King. E day Raul failed to make e starting 11, indicated KK wanted to sell him.. He was e voted e foreign player of the season, for him to be out of e starting lineup speaks for itself..

  38. Gerrardious says:

    It will take just a couple of weeks before u guys realise we ripped Chelsea off ………..yet again. Meire is ok/good, not world class. am sure y’all be happy when Gerry comes back soon and we get a younger, fitter classy replacement for Meireles in January while the Portugese flops/looks ordinary/struggles with injuries.

  39. Gerrardious says:

    It will take just a couple of weeks (2 months tops)before most of u guys realise we ripped Chelsea off ………..yet again. Meire is ok/good, not world class. am sure y’all be happy when Gerry comes back soon and we get a younger, fitter classy replacement for Meireles in January while the Portugese flops/looks ordinary/struggles with injuries. Abrahamovic is helping us reshape our squad for the beta. I hope he comes for Kuyt next year………..Y’@ll can kill me now

  40. Seun says:

    Meireles was sold for 15m pounds. For a 28 yr old whose a bit prone to injuries i think its good business + i feel we’ve enuff cover with lucas, adam, shelvey, spearing, gerrard still jostling for places and lets not forget the likes of coady, sterling and suso who are likely to make cameos. I’m sure kenny will get a player or two in january but till then, lets keep the faith. YNWA

  41. RedMan123 says:

    I think we could have done better than bringing in bellamy… I thought the policy was young for future not a 2 year contract which he may not even see the end of especially if we get champions league. Park chu young would have been a much better signing.

    How much has liverpool spent then all together including the sales and departures? because we managed to free up £30m a year with players leaving.

    All i can say is that I hope the team keep up current form, keep winning their games and stay injury free :D.
    Oh and roll on january, I love transfer periods XD

  42. bleps says:

    Hmmm, the second Liverpool player to ponce off to that other club inside a year. The way Meireles/Torres ran off is almost as if Liverpool represent the stern parent and when the child doesn’t get it’s own way it runs crying to it’s mummy. Never mind, Raul, I’m sure AVB will give you a bag of sweets to comfort you while you sit on the bench. You can even share it with Torres if you like.

  43. Jase says:

    I voted for him to stay because hes a good player.It sucks he’s gone to a team in our league but at the same time if he doesnt want to stay then why keep him if we can get our money back? Fortunately it hasnt left us short in midfield 🙂

  44. ant says:

    im sorry did i fucking hear right its now the end of the world again because average meireles has left and we will now struggle to get in champs league get a fucking grip you thick wankers lucas is at least twice the player raul is and to the fucking twat who said 5 teams finished ahead of us yes they did you fucking wanker but that was thanks to hodgson we had the second highest points total since dalglish took over and guess what you fucking cunt we have improved our squad a lot more since you little arragant twats who keep questioning kenny are fucking thick glory hunting motherfuckers who know fuck all about football how fucking dare you retards question a man who built one of the greatest footballing side ever who won our last 3 league titles who won the premier league with blackburn and who looks to have liverpool looking like he never left in such a short time and when he left the first time we were well and truly fucked and you fucking cunts have the cheek to question him fuck you oh ps maxi adam gerrad hendersen lucas are all natural midfielders add to that shelvey spearing suso coady adorjan can all be called on hardly a lack of depth and about the passport thing shut the fuck up suarez enrique coates enough said so fuck you twats

    • marco says:

      So KK came and LFC is secund best team in PL.
      No need to get quality players in, we have our King!

      Look what United did to Arsenal and if you wathed Liverpool play Arsenal you could see that Wenger’s team were a better side up until they got red card and Suarez and Raul go in.

      And even then victory wasn’t assured until Suarez scored secund at the very end.

      People need to put things in to perspective.

      Liverpool has 3 teams better than them and 2 teams they must fight for the fourth spot.
      Hopefully no one else would come in between them.

      Even our American owners agree with that.

  45. Kennyknowsbest says:

    Cmon all u questioning kk, truth is we don’t need meireles. Anyone who thinks he is better than Charlie Adam has no clue. Adam outscored him and created more in a worse team while also being stronger defensively. Not to mention his set piece delivery. Meireles was never the type to grab a game by the scruff of the neck, but shone when the team played well. With Bellamy as a wide option now, Henderson can offer cover for meireles, same ability passing and moving but younger and stronger. Not to mention gerrard. The squad is now streamline and hungry, with a wealth of different attacking options. As for Bellamy we needed a pace Option up front and proven finisher (ok not 20 goals a season, but more than a handful wherever he’s been), yes he’s 32, but a 2 year deal gives us time to identify the best youngster for the future. One thing is certain he will fight harder than mereiles to make us successful.

  46. Webbo says:

    For anyone saying we have enough cover, you’re wrong. We simply don’t.

    Gerrard is guaranteed neither fitness nor form. Henderson’s got the talent but is still learning the game and susceptible to a downturn in form & confidence. Adam lost form badly with Blackpool last season after Christmas and who can say he won’t again? (and he’s hardly the most mobile player). Lucas much improved but the only real holding midfielder we have.

    Neither Spearing nor Shelvey are anywhere near good enough for the top echelons of the Premier League. Other options mooted aren’t dedicated central midfielders and would be inadequate stop-gaps at best.

    Additionally, Meireles seemed to give the team something different, a ‘plan B’ for when the starting line-up just isn’t cutting it in terms of breaking down a ‘park the bus’ defence. For so long under Benitez we had a one-dimensional game, and he had neither the nouse nor the players to rip up the original gameplan during a game when ‘plan A’ patently wasn’t working. At least Dalglish seems to have an inkling when to mix things up – and Meireles gave him a good option off the bench.

    Yes, Meireles did the dirty on us in terms of timing and I agree it’s not ideal keeping a player who doesn’t want to be here. But without us bringing in extra cover, selling him has left us dangerously exposed, with only 4 players of sufficient quality to cover two/three (depending on the formation) crucial CM positions.

    Thank the stars there’s another transfer window in January – let’s just hope we can survive till then without injury/loss of form for Gerrard/Adam/Lucas/Henderson.

  47. Tom says:

    It would have been a good deal if we could have done a swap deal for Daniel Sturridge/

  48. B says:

    STEVIE G….,..

  49. Karl says:

    Raul wanted to go simple….

    I’m positive we got more than 12m it was deadline day and they couldn’t steal anyone else. lets be honest Raul was a good player in his peak we should have held onto him for at least another season or 2, I’m sure we would have got our monies worth out of him. Alas it wasn’t to be, we can afford to use Spearing or jonjo in the middle of the park as long as Adam stays fit I feel his passing will make up for what the others lack. Did any of you guys that forgot lucas actually watch him against bolton? If you haven’t I suggest you do and just see how much he’s grown into this team and league.

    I know people are going to start going on about blah blah formation but with the signing of Bellamy I really hope we start a 433 at home we now have the players for it and can vary the team.

    And one player I’m looking forward to seeing what Kenny does with is Mr Johnson with Kelly playing well I really hope Johnson is used further forward and we can cut the majority of his defensive duties as that was pretty poor. I wonder if thats why Kenny didn’t buy someone else for the right as Johnson will fill that void……

  50. Sean Alexander says:

    I for one am gutted, when you look at the last few years and the strength and depth Man utd and Chelsea have had and we finally looked like having that. I though….fantastic, Aqualani off the wage bill, part of Cole’s and Poulsen gone, perfect…..I then changed to BBC sport and only saw Raul’s pic and my heart sank.
    I know its early doors but if we wanted a better chance of climbing above Chelsea this year when they may struggle that is ONE player I would have kept.
    There will be folk out there who will be more than happy for Stevie to come back and have Spearing and Shelvey there to come on, but I believe at this stage we have made a stupid mistake and Chelsea have one upped us.

  51. philip says:

    Liverpool Selling him for 12 mil. That’s a stupid business. That’s why Liverpool not the best earn club in the world. Yes, they can sell anyone but the profit were always less than what they should get. Selling Torres so far is the best profit Liverpool made. Other than that …suck business. I would rather not to sell Raul so cheaply to one of the Rich club in BPL except for the swap deal with Sturridge.

  52. MURPH says:

    £12m+ for a 28-year-old squad player? Sounds like good business to me, especially when the guy submits a transfer request, meaning we don’t have to pay off the rest of his contract.

    And for those who think he’s our best midfielder? Yer daft. Plain daft. Lucas will be an Anfield legend. Gerrard already is.

  53. Dilly says:

    The selling makes sense even before the player handed in the transfer request. It’s such a packed midfield. Who you gonna sell? We have Lucas, Gerrard, Adam, Henderson, Meireles and dont forget Jay Spearing and Jonjo Shelvey.

    What’s the point of keep Meireles? Do you want to sell Lucas or Spearing or Shelvey? OR perhaps we should sign Joao Moutinho and packed it more and put all the midfielders into all sorts of positions and Meireles will be playing up front while gerrard defending with carra?

    I dont understand all sorts of argument here. He was past tensed. Move on!

  54. lfc4life says:

    we have more quality in the squad than last season and we don’t need too much of an expensive bench until we are in the CL..
    jonjo and spearo will do for fa/carling cups..
    only pity’s we could have got more from mereiles..maybe we were having some remorse after swinddling chelsea last season with 50m for torres lol

  55. Fabio Porto says:

    Since he’s no longer with us, we might as well say it like it happened. Against Arsenal, after both goals, Meirelles cursed at Dalglish for putting him on the bench. The finger was aimed at him, as he was pissed off and frustrated for being replaced on the side by Henderson, who he felt is a worse player, quite rightly, and was only being picked for being English, expensive and cause he was bought by Dalglish himself. That bullshit about the finger being aimed at Lucas, and because Frimpong showed before, and he being brought back to the side on stages because of injuries was only said to save his face and not poison our team spirit. He wasn’t looking at Lucas when he showed the finger, Suarez heard what he said, saw who he was aiming at and lowered his arm. I wouldn’t have brought this up if he’d stayed with us, but now…
    From that moment on it was quite clear for me that he wouldn’t stay.
    Good player, but I’m glad he’s gone under such circumstances.

  56. BleedRed says:

    1. Minimal profit for a player who obviously was far better now than when he arrived – and everyone knows it. 2. Sold to a rival that clearly threatens our position in the table – something that Man U would never ever do because you just don’t do that if you want to dominate 3. A creative midfielder who gave us a game-breaking different dimension so cannot be compared to Lucas, Shelvey, Spearing etc who do not and cannot fulfill that role in our team, and so now that responsibility is left exclusively to…….Adam and an injured tempramental Gerrard whose performance depends on his mood, who and where we are playing (anyone can get-up for a derby or Utd game, it’s West Brom away mid January and down 1-0 at halftime where he goes missing as a player and as a captain). 4. If you took KK to one side, I would bet he didn’t want to sell Miereles, but had to given the mantra of “no player too big for the club” that sheep on this website keep spewing up, and if you asked KK if he had maybe no choice but inform Raul he was going to have bench him because we paid too much to sit Henderson he would agree to that too. 5. Should Miereles have handed in a transfer request – no, it was hasty last minute decision that I am certain he has regrets about, Is it understandable why he did – of course it is. 6. A lose-lose situation all around.

    • MURPH says:

      I read the first part of this post – “obviously was far better bit” and that was such arrant rot that I couldn’t read any further. What – six months under Hodgson and six more under Dalglish transformed a 28-year-old international? Puh-lease!

      I heard some guy wittering on about Meireles playing as a defensive midfielder for Chelsea! A DM who doesn’t tackle? Oh yeah.

      The simple fact is that he didn’t quite suit the shape of our midfield, and threw a major strop over money. Put these two facts together, and getting back what we paid for him, and a bit more, is a damn fine piece of business.

      • BleedRed says:

        Absolutely yes, transformed him into our team, into the BPL – he is a better player now than when he arrived ………..Chelsea knows this, know what he is and isn’t and wanted someone like him therefore we should have sold him for a greater profit should it have come to that. $8M plus Benayoun looks like a better deal than making what we made and that deal sucked.

        Agreed he is not a defensive midefielder – never was and never will be – next thing people will be saying is Xabi and Messi would be good players if only they could tackle like a stereotypical english defensive midfielder…..or Lucas shoot like Gerrard, or Gerrard’s work ethic be like Lucas or Kuyt…..or Bellamy keep his mouth shut ………just not going to happen so know that, exploit their specific skills for what they offer.

        What’s an “arrant rot”??

  57. My only question is this…..What happens after this season when Chelsea decide they want to unsettle Suarez and promise him lots of tropheys and truckloads of money? They did it to Torres, Merlellis, Cole etc. Full marks to Harry Redknapp for standing firm against the bullies with Modric>

  58. BleedRed says:

    Just wondering…….when Gerrard’s head was turned by money and bright lights of a better future, disillusioned with LFC’s future and his own personal ambition at our club what happened to the “no one player is bigger than the club” philosophy?? I hope KK has the balls to stand behind that statement. Sure KK was not manager then but don’t kid yourself, KK has been indirectly influential in LFC for years and years.

    My concern is when Gerrard returns all of a sudden players around him forget how to play together – not sure what it is, his aura, his ability to scowl at a player or throw his hands up when another player makes a bad pass, or barely acknowledging another player when he scores (unless he is on Gerrard’s favourite player list like Torres was and Kuyt isn’t unless he scores against a top club). Henderson comes to mind as a potential to fall apart when Gerrard is around and frightened to do anything inventive for fear of failure – the English national team syndrome. Alonso had the balls to stand up for himself with his game and look where that got him…..and us.

    • joseph says:

      Let’s hope the “best” version of gerrard returns to us. Stoke away could be a telling fixture. What Raul brought to LFC, as he does to Portugal, was a midfielder who can work the short intricate game on the ground that is often the only way through a packed defense. I fear we’ll see Henderson, Adam and Lucas exchanging lateral passes until they’re pushed back onto their own area where a long ball is the only option.
      Sure, Raul lacks a certain physical side to his game. But given time might he have acquired it? Why not pay him a respectable wage to feel wanted, and find a way to use such a gem? Gem? Opta says that over the same period of games Raul created roughly the same number of scoring chances as Modric, yet scored more goals per game. Modric has had more time to adapt to English football, but Raul was already adapting. It is simply insane to sell such a player, unlike any other in the LFC squad, especially to a bitter rival. Sadly, I agree, United would never in a million years contemplate it.

      • Surikoff says:

        Totally agree with Bleedred and Joseph. The Stoke game showed how much LFC is going to miss Raul Mireles.

  59. David Aris-Sutton says:

    Apprising amount of bile being speed in this comments section. He’s gone. For good or ill he made the decision to seek a move and probably knew from Kenny’s previous comments that if he made it clear he doesn’t want to be at LFC he would be allowed to leave, perhaps we should all accept that the king knows what he is doing? The way we have been playing suggests that is the case. YNWA

  60. DELE RAUL says:

    THE DEED HAS BEEN DONE.LETS TALK ABOUT WAY 4WARD COS MERISLES RAUL IS NT BIGGER THAN MY CLUB

  61. Aaron says:

    This question needs to be revisited. Anyone who at this point that believes selling Raul was a wise choice need their head examined. Regular starter with Chelsea, has been embraced by their manager and fans, has resolved the static quality of their midfield play, has an uncanny understanding with Mata and Torres (who is resurgent, despite the three week suspension). Even in the debacle v. QPR it was his play that was pivotal in their dominance in the second half despite being two men down. This could very well go down as both the loss and get of the season.

  62. Jamie says:

    He’s been good, and we miss him. We were loaded in that position, we’ve loaned Aquilani and Cole and sold Meireles. Baaaad business IMO. Lucas is out for the season, Gerrard was looking shaky and not back till halfway through the season (Hopefully back properly now)and we needed these quality players.
    If Cole can come back on form though, he can replace Meireles.