Chelsea are lining up a move for Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles, the Daily Mail reports.

The Portuguese international was voted the PFA Fans Player of the Year for his superb debut season at Anfield but isn’t in Kenny Dalglish’s plans.

An influx of midfielders at Anfield has pushed Meireles down the pecking order and now Chelsea could swoop to bring him to Stamford Bridge.

Andre Villas-Boas is desperate to add a creative midfielder to his squad and has now put the 28-year-old alongside Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric as his top targets.

The Chelsea boss knows him well from their time together at Porto and is convinced that a partnering the two in midfield will add an extra dimension to the Blues attack.

He see’s Meireles as the perfect foil for the Croatian international and is prepared to pay £12 million to bring him to West London.

Dalglish needs to sell to balance the books after a £100 million spending spree which has seen Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson brought in at inflated prices.

News of Chelsea’s interest and potential for Champions League football is sure to sway Meireles who knows he won’t see much game time at Anfield in the new campaign.

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