LUCAS LEIVA GETS MORE COMPETITION IF HE REMAINS AT ANFIELD

Lucas Leiva has been linked with a move away from the Merseyside this summer.


Leiva who is Liverpool’s longest tenured player of almost nine years had a difficult campaign last season as he transitioned to centre back from his previous position of defensive midfield.

If he decides to remain at Anfield, he is going to have more competition as Mexican journalist Vladimir Garcia, who works for Fox Sports Mexico, took to Twitter to claim The Reds are just a step away from signing Hector Herrera.

The midfielder has impressed for the Portuguese this year side and scored nine goals in the league this season. Garcia said:

"Hector Herrera is one step away leaving Porto to move to Liverpool (Pachuca has 30 per cent of their rights)," Pachuca being the Mexican side set to net 30 per cent of the transfer fee.

The move, if true, seems coach Jurgen Klopp appears to be working on bolstering his midfield options and it means Leiva would stay in defence for long. With a lot of options in defence and more set to come in this summer, Leiva might just reconsider his stance with The Reds. Liverpool also have Marko Grujic who joined in January and Piotr Zielinski has been heavily tipped to head to Anfield. There are also others in Captain Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Emre Can, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Joe Allen who can play at the middle. The competition would just going off the roof next season.

The 29-year old Brazilian who is already showing signs of aging moved to defence during Liverpool’s midseason injury crisis in central defence. He showed strong defensive abilities and is one of the best tacklers in the Premier League, averaging four tackles per game. He won 57.6% of his 347 duels, as well as a 59% rate of success in his 105 aerial duels, based on the club’s report. Leiva has a higher chance at remaining at Liverpool of he plays defence but will likely get fewer action this season.