5. Raul Meireles - Ended Nightmare Spell Under Di Matteo To Salvage Career
Raul Meireles spent just 12 months at Chelsea between 2011-12 and after arriving from Liverpool, claimed he never wanted to leave Anfield and only did so because the opportunity of working with fellow Portuguese Andre Villas-Boas was too tempting for him to turn down. When Villas-Boas was sacked by the Blues in 2012, however, so ended Meireles's short stay at SW6. The midfielder moved on to Fenerbahce that summer after falling down the pecking order at the West London club, and grew disillusioned with life under Villas-Boas' successor, Roberto Di Matteo. He was not been first choice under the Italian and excepting the occasional good performance here and there, the 29-year-old largely struggled. Life has been a lot better for Meireles in Turkey, however, where the Portugal international has had more playing time and added trophies to his cabinet to boot. The ex-Chelsea man said on his arrival at the Turkish side that he had joined the club to win silverware, and he did just that, scooping the Turkish Cup in 2012-13 and followed that up by helping his new side win the Turkish league last season, proving there is life after Stamford Bridge.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
