Meireles pulled out of Porto squad

The 27-year-old Portugal international has made more than 130 league appearances for Porto since joining from Boavista in 2004, and scored for his country at this summer's World Cup finals in the 7-0 demolition of North Korea.

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Reports have surfaced claiming that Old Trafford supremo Sir Alex Ferguson is mulling a move for the midfielder, having missed out on Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil, who has joined Real Madrid.

The Red Devils' boss is believed to be on the lookout for a midfielder with Owen Hargreaves continuing to struggle, Anderson only recently recovering from a long injury layoff, Michael Carrick out of form and both Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs approaching the end of their illustrious careers.

New Manchester United signings Javier Hernandez, Chris Smalling and Bebe were presented to the media on Wednesday, with Ferguson refusing to rule out any further additions before the end of the month.

And, according to A Bola, Meireles could soon be on his way, having been pulled out of Porto's squad to face Gent in the Europa League on Thursday.

Were Meireles to feature, he would not be permitted to play in Europe for United, effectively ending any chance of a move.

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Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.