Speaking out: Meireles blasted his former club
Liverpool over broken promises
Raul
Meireles has accused Liverpool of a broken promise and claimed he
was forced to submit a transfer request once they had decided to
sell him to Chelsea.
Meireles completed his £12million move to
Stamford Bridge in the final minutes of transfer deadline day
almost two weeks ago, a switch that angered many Reds
supporters.
The 28-year-old revealed upon signing for Chelsea
that he had never wanted to leave Anfield and that he would
eventually explain why he had done so.
He attempted to set the record straight this
afternoon after being officially unveiled as a Blues player,
appearing to give credence that he was promised a 100 per cent pay
rise at Liverpool if he impressed during what was his debut
season.
'All I have to say is that I had one promise at
Liverpool which wasn't fulfilled,' said the midfielder, who
certainly lived up to his side of the bargain after joining the
Reds from Porto.
'It's not the only thing to blame. But that's why
the Liverpool fans are unsure why I left.'
He added: 'Liverpool asked me to hand in a
transfer request, so that's normal.'
Meireles admitted he was stunned to discover he
had been made available for transfer.
'I was aware that Liverpool wanted to sell me in
the summer, which was a bit surprising to me,' said Meireles, who
was reluctant to discuss his relationship with Reds boss Kenny
Dalglish.
'There's no point touching this subject any
more.
'I was a bit surprised, but now I'm just
concentrating on my present and future, and that's with
Chelsea.'
Indeed, Meireles was delighted to have ended up
at Stamford Bridge.
'When Chelsea showed interest, it was like a
golden opportunity,' he said.
'I'm here now, it's a new adventure, and I want
to do well here.'
Meireles' move reunited him with Andre
Villas-Boas, who he worked under during pre-season a year ago
before joining Liverpool.
He said: 'I worked under Andre for one month at
Porto, so I felt that there's the same mentality here as there was
at Porto - the desire to win competitions and trophies. With Andre,
we can do that.
'In one month, it was enough to see how he works
and his desire to win things. So it wasn't hard to make the
decision to come to Chelsea.'
Meireles made an instant impact on his Chelsea
debut on Saturday, a brilliant through ball setting up Daniel
Sturridge's outrageous backheeled goal at Sunderland.
Portugal international Meireles was coy on
whether his year in England had made him better prepared for the
rigours of a Barclays Premier League title challenge.
'I had one year to adapt to the Premier League,
but it's two different clubs and different styles,' said Meireles,
who was hoping to make his Champions League bow for Chelsea in
tomorrow night's Group E opener against Bayer
Leverkusen.
'We chase different competitions, and I just hope
I can achieve things here at Chelsea.'
Future's bright: Raul Meireles poses with his new
Chelsea shirt alongside manager Andre Villas-Boas
Golden opportunity: Meireles insists he is delighted to
be at Stamford Bridge now
On the ball: Meireles made his Chelsea debut in the
weekend Premier League win at Sunderland
