After starting out at Boavista, he signed with Porto in 2004, going on to appear in 198 official games and win ten major trophies, including four Primeira Liga titles in a row.

A Portugal international since 2006, Meireles represented the country in two World Cups and two European Championships, earning a total of 73 caps and scoring ten goals.

[10] Five days later, he made his debut in the UEFA Champions League by featuring the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw with Inter Milan in the round-of-16 first leg;[11] he finished his first year with 15 appearances in all competitions (no goals).

In the following four years, during which the domestic league was won three additional times, Meireles featured regularly in Porto's midfield, often partnering Fernando and Lucho González.

[25] On 12 February 2011, Meireles netted his fifth league goal in seven games: he put the hosts ahead midway through the first half, but Wigan Athletic eventually tied it 1–1 as Liverpool attempted to reorganise following his replacement due a stomach bug.

[26][27] His scoring run was rewarded with the ESPN PFA Fans' Player of the Month trophy for February, being an essential figure as the Reds climbed up the table.

[28] He finished the season with 33 matches, helping to a final sixth place and being voted the PFA Fans' Player of the Year, beating Dimitar Berbatov, David Luiz, Samir Nasri and Fernando Torres.

[28] In the second match of the 2011–12 campaign, away against Arsenal, Meireles played 19 minutes after replacing Dirk Kuyt, and provided the assist for Luis Suárez in a 2–0 win which marked the first time they had defeated the opposition on their ground in 11 years.

[30] With Chelsea in the market for a midfielder following a long-term injury to Michael Essien, and an unsuccessful bid to acquire Luka Modrić from Tottenham Hotspur,[31][32] the former signed Meireles to a four-year deal on 31 August 2011, for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £12 million.

[33][34] He chose the squad number 16, due to the fact he often wore it when on international duty,[35] and later claimed he never wanted to leave Liverpool but that the chance to work with André Villas-Boas, with whom he had spent a short period of time at Porto, was too good an opportunity to turn down.

[42] He sat out the Champions League final against FC Bayern Munich after receiving a yellow card against Barcelona at Camp Nou,[43] but was still given a medal for his participation after the 4–3 victory on penalties.

[61] Meireles featured regularly in the qualifying phase for the 2004 European Under-21 Championship, including a play-off tie against France where the played the full 90 minutes in a 4–1 penalty shootout victory.

[76] He then started alongside several reserve players in the final group clash, a 2–0 defeat to Switzerland;[77] four days later, he replaced João Moutinho during the first half of an eventual 3–2 quarter-final loss to Germany.

[78] On 18 November 2009, Meireles scored an important goal in the 1–0 away victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second play-off game, thus securing qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

[79] He was named in Carlos Queiroz's 23-men squad,[80] and was a starter throughout the entire tournament, netting in the 7–0 group stage rout of North Korea in Cape Town.

The couple met while he was a youth player, and their wedding ceremony was held at Martim Church in Barcelos, with several guests including Porto teammates Bruno Alves, José Bosingwa, Pedro Emanuel, Nuno Espírito Santo, Lucho González, Mariano González, Lisandro López and Pepe;[94][95] the couple's clothes were designed by Fátima Lopes,[96] and the christening of their daughter Lara was also performed there.

[101][102] After moving to Anfield, during an interview with Liverpool's official website, Meireles jokingly said that he wanted to win the "ink championship" against teammates Daniel Agger and Martin Škrtel, due to their shared affection for tattoos.