24 July 2007, by Lorna Danion

Meira happy to stay at Stuttgart

Portugal international to retain captain’s armband

Fernando Meira says he is happy to stay with German champions Stuttgart, after the club rejected a 10m Euro offer from Juventus for the Portuguese defender.

The Bianconeri have been following the 29-year-old for most of the close season, and confirmed their interest by lodging a proposal for Meira last week, with the bid thought to be Juve’s final offer.

“I have never had the intention of leaving,” Meira is quoted as saying in the Stuttgarter-Zeitung.

“I am happy to know that Stuttgart did not want to sell me, and because of that I am happy to be staying.”

Meanwhile, Meira has been re-elected as Stuttgart captain ahead of the new Bundesliga season, which will be his second campaign with the club armband.

The players’ representatives, which were made up of Raphael Schäfer, Ludovic Magnin, Matthieu Delpierre, Pavel Pardo and Thomas Hitzlsperger, gave Meira their backing to continue to skipper the side as they head into a season complete with Champions League football.

Meira has made 129 league appearances for Stuttgart since moving to Germany in 2002 from Benfica.


Related: Fernando Meira PortuGOAL profile
Related: Juventus made 10m euro bid for Meira
Related: Fernando Meira 2006/07 season review