New signing Raul Meireles knows his move to Chelsea was assisted by how keen the Blues were to sign him.
The £12million move from Anfield was completed minutes before the transfer window closed, the high profile move reunites him with his former boss.
Yes, there were similarities with January’s move for Fernando Torres, as Liverpool announced in both cases that the player had requested a transfer.
This was seen as the player wanting to push through a move but Meireles says he is not a “Judas”.
He told his www.chelseafc.com: “When I was in Porto, I knew that I wanted to go and the club wanted to sell me, and I only had to wait for the right choice.
“I made the right choice last year to come to England and to come to Liverpool and this year was different because I knew that I didn’t want to leave Liverpool.
“I felt that the new owners didn’t want to sell me, but when I knew that Chelsea and Andre wanted me, it convinced me.”
Chelsea fans would have preferred to have seen Luka Modric sign but as many Liverpool and Porto fans will tell you, the club has signed a quality player.
By Scott Balaam
Twitter @theshed11