Filed under: Liverpool, Premier League, Football, Transfer News
If, as expected, Charlie Adam joins Liverpool from Blackpool this week for a fee of about £9 million, Raul Meireles may start to reconsider his Anfield future.In his first season in the Premier League, Meireles hardly put a foot wrong and won the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award, while his teammates hailed him as a huge and important influence on the Liverpool team.
But that was last season. And Liverpool looks set to be a very different place this season.
Adam's entrance at Liverpool alongside Jordan Henderson's arrival last week means the Liverpool midfield is looking overcrowded and, in the cut-throat environment of the Premier League, Meireles may be squeezed out. If manager Kenny Dalglish's options are studied in greater detail, it seems that everyone else in Liverpool's midfield can be accommodated on a regular basis apart from Meireles.
Dalglish is unlikely to drop Lucas as he has matured into Liverpool's most consistent player over the last 18 months, Steven Gerrard is Steven Gerrard so he will be an automatic selection, Adam is likely to add the flair and creativity to assist Gerrard in providing opportunities for Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, while Henderson is also likely to feature hugely because of his young age and £16 million price tag.
In addition to these players, Jay Spearing is also a contender because of the impressive way he deputised at the end of last term following Gerrard's groin complaint.
Despite the obstacles in front of Meireles, Dalglish would undoubtedly prefer him to stay and offer the kind of strength-in-depth that Liverpool have so sorely lacked over the last few seasons.
However, at 28, Meireles will not want to spend time on the bench, particularly after the way he impressed last year, and reports in the Portuguese media are already suggesting that a move to Inter Milan could be a possibility.
The bottom line is that any manager can only ever pick 11 starting players and Meireles may became biggest casualty of that brutal fact at Anfield.
Yet if that thought depresses him, then he should consider this: at least he is not Joe Cole or Christian Poulsen...
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