Background and career
Raul José Trindade Meireles (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁɐˈul mɐjˈɾɛlɨʃ]; born 17 March 1983) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. After starting out at Boavista, he signed with Porto in 2004, going on to appear in 198 official games and win ten major trophies, including four Primeira Liga titles in a row. From 2010 to 2012, he competed in the Premier League with Liverpool and Chelsea, winning the 2012 Champions League with the latter. He also spent several seasons in Turkey with Fenerbahçe. A Portugal international since 2006, Meireles represented the country in two World Cups and two European Championships, earning a total of 73 caps and scoring ten goals. He also played Olympic football in 2004.
Meireles was born in Porto, and joined local Boavista's youth system at the age of seven. He spent two years on loan to Aves in the Segunda Liga, being presented on 8 July 2001. Meireles scored his first senior goal on 25 May 2003, in a 2–1 home win over União da Madeira where he fired from 30 metres into the net. He finished that season with 26 appearances, helping his team to finish in sixth position. For the 2003–04 campaign, Meireles returned to Boavista. He made his debut in the Primeira Liga on 17 August against Benfica, being chosen as Player of the match of the 0–0 home draw by newspaper Record.
On 7 July 2004, Porto signed Meireles on a five–year contract, being presented in a press conference held five days later. His first competitive match took place on 22 September against União de Leiria at the Estádio do Dragão, coming off the bench early into the first half on an eventual 1–1 league draw. On 18 February of the following year he made his first start, in an away victory over Belenenses. Five days later, he made his debut in the UEFA Champions League by featuring the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw with Inter Milan in the round-of-16 first leg; he finished his first year with 15 appearances in all competitions (no goals). Meireles started in Porto's first league fixture of 2005–06, against Estrela da Amadora, sustaining an ankle injury that sidelined him for one month. He returned to action in October, in a Taça de Portugal tie with Marco. On 19 February 2006, Meireles scored his first goal for the Dragons in his 50th league appearance, giving a 1–0 home victory over Marítimo. He netted his second three matchdays later in a 2–0 defeat of Vitória de Setúbal, as the season ended with double conquest. In the following four years, during which the domestic league was won three additional times, Meireles featured regularly in Porto's midfield, often partnering Fernando and Lucho González. He scored his first goal in the Champions League in the 2006–07 edition, a 1–1 last-16 home draw against Chelsea, coached by José Mourinho.
On 29 August 2010, Meireles moved to Liverpool for a fee of £11.5 million. He was awarded the No. 4 shirt, which was vacated by Alberto Aquilani who joined Juventus on loan. He made his Premier League debut on 12 September, playing 14 minutes in a 0–0 draw at Birmingham City, and his maiden appearance in the UEFA Europa League occurred four days later in the 4–1 group stage victory over Steaua București at Anfield where he played the entire game. Meireles was handed his first league start on 19 September 2010, in a 3–2 away loss against Manchester United. On 16 January 2011, he scored his first goal for his new team in the 2–2 home draw with Everton, which coincided with Kenny Dalglish's first home game back as manager. His second came six days later in a 3–0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, when he struck a dipping 25-yard volley into the top corner of the net in the 50th minute. On 12 February 2011, Meireles netted his fifth league goal in seven games: he put the hosts ahead midway through the first half, but Wigan Athletic eventually tied it 1–1 as Liverpool attempted to reorganise following his replacement due a stomach bug. His scoring run was rewarded with the ESPN PFA Fans' Player of the Month trophy for February, being an essential figure as the Reds climbed up the table. He finished the season with 33 matches, helping to a final sixth place and being voted the PFA Fans' Player of the Year, beating Dimitar Berbatov, David Luiz, Samir Nasri and Fernando Torres. In the second match of the 2011–12 campaign, away against Arsenal, Meireles played 19 minutes after replacing Dirk Kuyt, and provided the assist for Luis Suárez in a 2–0 win which marked the first time they had defeated the opposition on their ground in 11 years. On 31 August, however, he asked to be transfer listed.
Following a long-term injury to Michael Essien, and an unsuccessful bid to acquire Luka Modrić from Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea signed Meireles to a four-year deal on 31 August 2011, for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £12 million. He chose the squad number 16, due to the fact he often wore it when on international duty; he later said he never wanted to leave Liverpool but that the chance to work with André Villas-Boas, with whom he had spent a short period of time at Porto, was too good an opportunity to turn down. Meireles made his debut on 10 September 2011 against Sunderland, which ended in a 2–1 away win with him setting up Daniel Sturridge's goal with a long pass. In the following month, he scored his first goal for the club during a Champions League group stage 5–0 defeat of Genk. On 12 December, he netted for the first time in the domestic league to contribute to a 2–1 home victory against league leaders Manchester City also at Stamford Bridge. On 18 March 2012, Meireles scored a goal and provided two assists to Torres, who ended his 24-game goal drought in the 5–2 home triumph against Leicester City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. On 4 April, he scored in the final minutes of a Champions League quarter-final 2–1 victory over Benfica, setting up a last-four tie with reigning champions Barcelona. He won his first title in English football on 5 May after a 2–1 win against his former club Liverpool in the FA Cup final where he replaced Ramires for the last 15 minutes. He was suspended for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich after being shown a yellow card against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, but still received a medal after the 4–3 victory on penalties.
On 3 September 2012, Meireles was sold to Fenerbahçe for £8 million. He was to earn €3 million in his first season, in addition to a €10,000 per-match bonus. He scored his first goal for the Turkish club on 4 October, in a 4–2 victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Europa League group stage. His first in the Süper Lig came on 25 November in the 4–1 win against Gençlerbirliği. In December 2012, Meireles was handed an eleven-match ban by the Turkish Football Federation for spitting at a referee. The alleged actions were followed by accusations of homophobic remarks after he received a second yellow card in the second half of a 1–2 away defeat to rivals Galatasaray. However, the ban was reduced on appeal to four games after it was ruled that he could not have spat at the referee, being only guilty of verbal abuse. Meireles scored once from 20 appearances in 2013–14, helping his team win the national championship after a three-year wait. During his spell in Istanbul, he shared teams with compatriots Bruno Alves, Nani and Vítor Pereira.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
