Raul Meireles insists he is happy to stay at Fenerbahce next season though admits a possible move to England is an option he is considering.
The Portuguese midfielder, who is currently in Brazil with the national team, has been consistently linked with a move to Sunderland in the Turkish press and would, on paper at least, tick a lot of boxes for Gus Poyet in being a proven quality performer who has previously demonstrated he can do it in the Premier League.
It should be stressed at this point that we have genuinely no idea if Meireles is a Sunderland target or not. He is one of those names that is linked with the club just about every summer, though the Turkish press don't really seem quite as fact-driven as you'd like. A lot of them tend to be just mouth-pieces for agents so we are firmly in 'pinch of salt' territory there.
Meireles is half way through a 4-year-contract, and despite being 31-years-old wouldn't be likely to come cheap given his pedigree, so it could well be a non-starter. For me, though, he is precisely the kind of player the Sunderland midfield needs, so I'll personally be keeping my fingers crossed.
Also, his beard is magnificent. Really can't stress that enough.