Meireles: I don’t deserve Judas tag
A shock written transfer request submitted in the final hour before Wednesday night’s deadline paved the way for the Portugal midfielder to make the switch to Stamford Bridge.
It also brought criticism from sections of the Liverpool support, but 28-year-old Meireles has defended his conduct and stressed the move was not motivated by money.
“These are things that happen in football. I can only say good things about Liverpool. It was a fantastic year,” Meireles told Radio e Televisao de Portugal.
“People think I am a Judas and that it was because of the money. It was not because of that. I will explain it later. Things are still fresh.”
Meireles had fallen down the pecking order at Anfield after manager Kenny Dalglish’s summer recruitment drive saw Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson added at great expense to an already-congested central midfield area.
Despite the exit on loan of Alberto Aquilani, for a second successive season, and Joe Cole, Meireles had no hesitation in linking up again with Andre Villas-Boas, under whose management he previously played at Porto.
“It all happened very fast,” he continued. “I am not the only one to blame for my exit from Liverpool, but I will never stop loving the club and I have great friends there.”
Meanwhile, Tottenham playmaker Rafael van der Vaart is hoping he can make a quicker than expected return from a hamstring injury despite being ruled out for six weeks.
Van der Vaart suffered the injury during the latter stages of Spurs’ 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City last weekend.
An MRI scan has shown the Netherlands international has torn his hamstring and Spurs have confirmed they expect him to be sidelined for around six weeks.
He missed his country’s 11-0 thrashing of San Marino on Friday night and will also sit out tomorrow’s Euro 2012 qualifier away to Finland.
However, the former Ajax ace has handed his club side Spurs a boost by revealing he could return to action within the next fortnight. “It feels okay now,’’ said Van der Vaart in De Telegraaf. “I hope in one to two weeks to make my comeback.
“The past has proven that I can quickly recover from such an injury.’’
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
