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Liverpool FC have confirmed that Raul Meireles has submitted a written transfer request, which since Chelsea have made a bid for him would strongly imply that he wants to move to Stamford Bridge. There's only half an hour left to get a deal done, but it looks like this is our super-secret move. Thanks, Chelsea, for giving us all a heart attack while we thought that nothing at all was going on.
Chelsea's last bid for the Portuguese midfielder (profiled here) was apparently £8M and Yossi Benayoun, but with the Israeli gone to Arsenal on loan the Blues will presumably have to come up with an all-cash deal. Rumours of Danny Sturridge being involved seem wide of the mark. Obviously, this deal will have to be done very very quickly, so there's a good chance Chelsea overpay (word has the bid at £15M £12M right now), but Meireles is a very good player and exactly the sort of body we need in the centre of the pitch. Get this done. Now.