Meireles ready to show he can be a smash hit

"He'll be absolutely brilliant here, you know - haven't you seen all the clips of him on YouTube?"

It is the statement/question which now accompanies the arrival of every new signing from abroad; as soon as a club gets mentioned with a player whose skills are unfamiliar to regular Premier League viewers, search engines go in to overdrive and all available footage is studied intently.

The latest player to find himself the subject of such glowing reports is Raul Meireles; Liverpool's new number four might have a solid reputation thanks to his achievements with FC Porto but the vast majority of fans will be uncertain of just what he can do when he crosses that white line.

Those who have spent a few minutes browsing YouTube will, inevitably, have been impressed by the compilations of him smashing in goals with either foot, jumping to meet headers, roaring into tackles and dovetailing impressively with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Of course, it is possible with selective editing to make even the most limited footballer appear to be the new Zinedine Zidane, which is why it pays to not make outlandish statements until you have seen these individuals in the flesh.

Where Meireles - who has cost the Reds more than £11m - is concerned, however, it is difficult not to come to the opinion that Liverpool have made a sound purchase and it will be intriguing to see how he fares when he gets thrust into battle for the first time on Sunday afternoon at Birmingham.

This will represent an initial glimpse of what the future might be like under Roy Hodgson as, barring any late injuries, he will field a starting line-up that features the majority of Liverpool's summer signings.

If Hodgson has a dilemma regarding who will play alongside Jamie Carragher at the heart of Liverpool's defence - Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger have started the campaign in good form - he will certainly give Paul Konchesky his debut at St Andrews.

Maxi Rodriguez should come in on the right for the stricken Dirk Kuyt, Milan Jovanovic or Ryan Babel will plough a furrow ahead of Konchesky, while Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres will get the green light to reform their telepathic understanding.

But it is in the engine room where change will be most evident; with Javier Mascherano gone, it will be a case of 'when' not 'if' Hodgson chooses to pair Christian Poulsen and Meireles together and how they gel will be key to making Liverpool successful.

There will not be anything too elaborate in what the steady Poulsen contributes but Meireles will, in time, be expected to supply the pyrotechnics - dare it be said that he will have to try and do what Xabi Alonso did so elegantly and successfully.

Tough and durable, energetic and possessing an eye for goal, Meireles - so often in the past linked with moves to Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid - has become one of the main men in Portugal's team.

He secured his country's ticket to South Africa when scoring the winner in their play-off with Bosnia-Herzegovina and it was apt, given that he had started every one of Portugal's qualifying matches, and it was only in the games against Denmark and Malta that he did not play the full 90 minutes.

Meireles rose through the ranks of the national team, and though he never made the squad that finished fourth in the 2006 World Cup, he featured heavily in the qualifiers for Euro 2008. He went on to play in that tournament, but it was not until the qualifying competition for South Africa 2010 got under way that he established himself as a regular in the Portuguese midfield.

With four Portuguese titles, three Portuguese Cups and three domestic Super Cups on his CV, Meireles is heavily decorated in more ways than one - he is just as famous for the artwork on his body as he is for his skills,

"I have been getting tattoos since I was 18 years old," he explained before the World Cup. "They bring me luck."

Should that good fortune continue on Merseyside, Hodgson, primarily, will be delighted but he is convinced that Meireles will set tongues wagging for all the right reasons and, if he does that, those enlightening snippets of him on YouTube will have been proven wholly accurate.

"It was important to sign a quality midfielder when we lost Javier," said Hodgson.

"We had half prepared for his departure by jumping in to sign Christian Poulsen when he became available, but it was important for us to keep strong in that area.

"We loaned out Alberto Aquilani and so we are pleased to have been able to bring in Meireles. He is experienced in the Champions League, in international football and has had proven success at Porto. He is an all-round midfielder.

"Raul is capable of playing in all three of the central midfield positions and he has a pedigree which we researched, followed and studied. I followed him at my previous club so it was good when I heard he could be available and that we could do the business quickly.

"He has played a lot of international football so settling into the English game won't be a major problem. Our public are sensible people and they realise that having played all of his career in Portugal, it may take a bit of time. We have that time.

"He will adjust, but whether it's from the first moment we'll have to see."

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.