“He is a dynamic player. One minute he’s in defence, the next he’s in the opposition’s box and maybe that’s what we’ve been lacking a bit of in the last four or five years.

“Whether he will play alongside Steven with Joe Cole ahead of them, or alongside Christian Poulsen or Lucas with Steven further forward is difficult to say at present, but Roy will have all those options open to him.

“It’s up to him to decide how he deploys Meireles and the most important aspect he will consider is how he gets the best out of the player.”

Meanwhile, Alberto Aquilani insists he would have been happy to stay at Anfield this season.

The Italian midfielder recently returned to his homeland to join Juventus on a season-long loan deal.

“It was really fast,” he said. “One day I was speaking with Hodgson and we were discussing Liverpool’s season and three days later I found myself having a medical in Turin.

“I would have stayed because at the end of last season I was getting in gear physically and I had played the last eight games of the campaign.

“The fans had started to show me affection. Then this opportunity arrived and I didn’t even need a minute to think about it. Liverpool wanted to only send me on loan, but (Juve general director, Beppe) Marotta insisted to have the option to buy.

“Turin has made a beautiful impact on me and I also like the climate. It has been a positive surprise.”