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Sunday, 04 July 2010 14:12

Raul Meireles headed to Chelsea as Porto close on Moutinho?

Coelho set for Lisbon

English club Chelsea have emerged as favourites to sign FC Porto midfielder Raul Meireles, as the Dragons close on a deal for Sporting midfielder Joao Moutinho.

Porto last night reportedly agreed a deal with Sporting for Moutinho, who will sign a four-year deal with Andre Villas Boas’ side. The Lisbon club will receive €10m, plus a player in exchange, with Nuno Coelho likely to be the makeweight. Sporting will also receive 30% of any future sell-on fee should Moutinho move abroad in the future.

Moutinho is expected to arrive at the Dragao as a direct replacement for Raul Meireles, who has been the subject of speculation over a big-money transfer after enjoying a bright World Cup for Portugal. Meireles was linked with Spanish giants Real Madrid over the weekend, but sources in Portugal suggest England is now his most likely destination.

According to reports, Chelsea are now at the front of the queue for the 27-year-old, who is expected to cost around €15m. There has been no official agreement between the clubs for Meireles, but agent Jorge Mendes, who represents Blues’ players Hilario, Ricardo Carvalho, Deco and Paulo Ferreira, is again taking a central role in the negotiations.

By Sean Gillen

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Comments (19)
Jon usa
19 Thursday, 22 July 2010 06:10
Ruben Portugal
thanks. Sometime last year I went to see a practice in Estadio do Dragao. As I'm taking a picture of the players close to the fence I accidentaly drop my dig. cam. I told my friend to go call for a worker, but by the time he got back Meireles had left his excersice, and given me the camera as long with an autograph in the shirt I was wearing. He also shook my hand, and asked me if I broke my camera. That act of humility showed me all I needed to see. A few of the other players noticed I dropped the cam. but chose to ignore it. Since that day I always wished him the best. He is an even better person than a player & any team would be lucky to have him.
meireles,micheal,moutinho
18 Saturday, 10 July 2010 18:39
california
I think raul deserves a chance to go play abroad but if he stayed and they click together forming a solid midfield that could solve the NT biggest problem but Raul is a box to box or utility mid not a defenceive mid .
Meireles
17 Saturday, 10 July 2010 17:38
Peter/Portugal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Meireles

why new boss Jose Mourinho was keen to bring the Porto midfielder Meireles to the Bernabeu?
agree with ruben
16 Saturday, 10 July 2010 16:21
jon/usa
Raul Meireles is an extremely talented player who doesn't get the respect he deserves. He is kind of like Darren Fletcher, Sergio Busquets, or Daniele De Rossi. These guys are sometimes overlooked because they lack the technical brilliance of some of their team mates. They do the dirty work that is hard to notice if you look at the stats. Raul Meireles is the definition of a box-to-box workhorse. He doesn't have a beautiful defense splitting pass and he cannot dribble through the opposition, but he gets his job done.
Meireles
15 Saturday, 10 July 2010 14:44
Ruben/Portugal
Any of you saying Meireles is average, are clueless ( or border line retarded & as so shouldn't be commenting on this forum) As someone that plays football for 25 years I can tell you that he he is top 5 I've seen in positioning in the field. He does the little things that make a top team better, but never gets recognition. He is always in every team that most hard working player ( stats don't lie) No one runs or cover more ground than him. He also has an above average shot, and great game vision. But his constant runs into the goal also make him score 4-7 goals per season. Not bad for a #6...
porto
14 Tuesday, 06 July 2010 22:19
fcp the best
I'ma fan of FC Porto, and did not like that Raul Meireles comes out, but if it comes out like that Ricardo Carvalho is back.
Raul
13 Monday, 05 July 2010 03:35
Tod, U.S.
Chelsea may work a deal to send Deco and/or Ferreira back to Portugal, thus the logic of picking up someone like Raul. But if it's just a one-way transfer, I too don't understand why Chelsea want him.
hm
12 Sunday, 04 July 2010 22:15
tayo nigeria
both of them are average players.
Eh......
11 Sunday, 04 July 2010 21:03
Paulo/ Charlotte, NC./ USA
Really not the end of the world for FCP if he goes to the EPL. His value will never as high as it is now. Should Micael come back fit and Moutino officially arrive at the Dragao FCP will be fine up the middle. Raul is more of a CDM then a CAM and to compete with SLB's offensive assault they need to change their style of play. Now you'll just see more of a traditional 4-4-2.
FC Porto Should Sell Meireles
10 Sunday, 04 July 2010 20:26
Tony, CA
FC Porto seems to sell players at the right time most of the time to generate the highest revenue possible -- there are a few exceptions (Fabiano and Diego). Very smart to sell Meireles as he is currently overvalued and is not not huge impact player in my opinion. He is a nice, industrial, serviceable player but not an impact player -- should play for a mid-tier EPL team. Why would Chelsea want this guy? It makes no sense.

After watching Bastian Schweinsteiger from midfield destroy Argentina it really makes you see how far Portugal has fallen at midfield and average players like Meireles are the best we have --- a sad day in Portuguese football. For Porto no huge loss with Meireles and the under performing Moutinho mvoing to Porto is really a wash --- so it makes sense for Porto to sell this overvalued player before the world finds out what many of know.
I already explained myself
9 Sunday, 04 July 2010 17:17
Bryan/ jamaica
Mereiles is a central mid with barely any offensive mentality. He's like tiago mendes but more defensive. Is he bad? No but he isn't what Porto needs. Porto needs a guy who can make plays and have great ball control. If you think Mereiles is creative your delusional. Moutinho is a golden player who needs the right players behind him and in front of him. Wait and see next year !
Meireles
8 Sunday, 04 July 2010 16:20
Matthew
I dunno If I want him to go can't we find away to fit him in with Moutinho and Micael?

This sucks Im happy Moutinho is coming here but selling Meireles sucks! : (
Good Sell, Strange Buy
7 Sunday, 04 July 2010 16:11
E Gomes / NJ
If anyone thinks that Moutinho is better than Meireles, they are crazy.
Moutinho has proven to NOT being a capable player in European play. He'll be fine in Liga Sagres, but fail miserably in European play.

I understand Porto cashing in on Meireles strong World Cup performance, since his value will never b ehigher, but they have definately downgraded. Especially if Moutinho is expected to play everyday.
bryan/jamaica
6 Sunday, 04 July 2010 16:09
MAX
Are you really a Porto fan.no way.How can a Porto fan post a comment like you did.
moutinho for meireles
5 Sunday, 04 July 2010 15:59
augusto
this is a fair piece of business. raul has served porto well and deserves a move abroad if he wishes. moutinho is the obvious replacement. well done pdc (as usual).
World cup overhypes players sometimes
4 Sunday, 04 July 2010 15:55
justin from rochester
So sad how this world cup can make players look better then what they really are. At in all honesty he did not even look good during this world cup, the analysts made him out to be some kind of midfield general. I have nothing against Raul but he is not that great of a player, with that being said he was consistent for Portugal and with Porto.
Go ahead Mereiles.
3 Sunday, 04 July 2010 15:27
bryan/jamaica
Your not needed anymore. We have someone better and who costs less. You are an average midfielder but you do not have the creative mentality that moutinho has to attack. I wish you the best wherever you go.
FCP
2 Sunday, 04 July 2010 15:16
FCP
NO DONT GO RAUL !!!!!!!!!!!! NO DONT GOOOOOO PLEASE DONT NO NO NO NO STAY AND YOU A MORTINO IN MIDFIELD NO DONT GO!
fcp
1 Sunday, 04 July 2010 14:50
maxi
noooooo! raul is better than moutinho. that's why he was in the seleccao team and mourinho was not!

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