Lucas Leiva

After a stunning first half to the season, there is a chance that Liverpool can win the first Premier league title in their history, but midfielder Lucas Leiva is more focused on qualifying for the Champions league above all else. Liverpool have not played in this competition for the last four years, which is a major disappointment for a club that has lifted the trophy five times. Liverpool are one of the prestigious clubs when it comes to the Champions League, but they have been without even the Europa league this season.

Liverpool have been backed to finish in the top four for the first time since 2009 by midfielder Lucas Leiva, who continues to be an important member of the team after joining the club in 2007. He was a signing made by former manager Rafa Benitez as a 20-year-old. Even though he struggled initially to win over fans, he has become an integral part of the team over the last few years. This has also led to the call-up to the Brazilian national team as well. Liverpool have made a great start to the Premier league campaign under Brendan Rodgers this season.

Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva has praised his Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard by saying that he is the complete player he has ever seen. Steven Gerrard is regarded as one of the best English players to have graced the Premier league.

The 33-year-old recently played in a testimonial that was held to commemorate more than a decade of service for Liverpool. Lucas, who has managed to establish himself as one of the important players in the Liverpool team, has paid tribute to the England midfielder.

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Brazil international Lucas Leiva has said that he wants striker Luiz Suarez to stay at Liverpool amidst reports that he is set to join Real Madrid before the end of the transfer window. Suarez has emerged as one of the sought-after players in the transfer window. Real Madrid are expected to appoint Carlo Ancelotti is the next manager following the departure of José Mourinho and he has reportedly set his sights on the Uruguay star, who has faced a barrage of problems since arriving to Liverpool a few years ago.

Suarez was the £ 24 million signing from Ajax, but he could command a transfer fee in the region of £ 40 million after two impressive seasons with the club. He could have easily finished as the top scorer in the Premier league last season had it not been for the suspension he received in the final few matches. It is a suspension that would extend into the new season as well. This is the second suspension he has received since arriving in England, which have prompted the striker to speculate a possible move away from the country.

Suarez recently claimed that it would be a dream move to Real Madrid, but Lucas is hoping that he stays at Anfield because he is very important to the club.

"Luis Suarez has influenced many matches for us, and is a player, if he leaves, who would be a great loss. It's been six years and I am very happy at Liverpool. If I fulfil my contract until the end, would be 11 years at Liverpool. Here in Europe I feel more complete than when I arrived at the club. I have evolved a lot with the coaches who have passed through here. The favourites to win the Premier League title are [Manchester] City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal and even Tottenham," said Lucas.

The Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva has established himself as one of the important member within the Liverpool team, while his South American counterpart Luis Suarez has also been one of the best players in the Premier league as well.

The Uruguay striker has been linked with several clubs in the last few months. Suarez is currently top of the Premier league goalscoring charts, as he has 21 goals to his name. As a result, he is one of the contenders to win the PFA player of the year award this season. This has only served to intensify the rumours that the French club PSG will make a bid for the player.

Lucas, though, is extremely confident that his teammate will not have his head turned by the offers from other clubs. One of the major advantages of going to a club like PSG will be the ability to play in the Champions League. Liverpool have not been in this competition for a few years, and they are unlikely to qualify for the next season tournament as well. At 25 years of age, the striker would want to test himself at the top level of European football. PSG can also offer him substantial increase in his wages as well.

"After the season Luis is having I’m sure there will be a lot of speculation, that is bound to happen. At the end of the day it will be his decision and the club’s decision. But what I know from Luis is that he’s happy, he’s comfortable and his confidence is high. His desire is to see Liverpool progress and that is why he signed last summer," said Lucas Leiva. The striker has scored 25 goals for Liverpool in all competitions. The club are currently seventh in the Premier league table with 42 points.

The Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva has revealed that he feared for his career after suffering a number of injury problems in the last two years. After struggling to win over the Liverpool fans during the early part of his Liverpool career, Lucas Leiva has been one of the important players for Liverpool over the last couple of seasons. However, he has also suffered a number of injury problems during this period, which have limited the number of first-team appearances he has played. Liverpool have also struggled in his absence, while being unable to qualify for the Champions League.

The midfielder is expected to return to first-team action in the next few weeks, which will be a major boost for the team. Lucas has revealed that the first injury was extremely hard to take, but the second one left him absolutely shattered because he started questioning the fitness of his body. He has also said that at one stage he feared that his career may be over, despite being only 25 years of age. The Brazilian midfielder was voted as the fans player of the year 2011, but he has played very little football since then. He is hoping that he gets back to his best when he returns to the first-team in a few weeks time.

“My first injury was a huge blow, but the second simply left me shattered. Players can have muscle injuries after knee surgery but mine was not only severe but also happened in the other leg! It was hard to take. You couldn’t help questioning if there was something wrong with my body. The worst part was when the club doctors told me I was going to be out for three months. I didn’t expect to be sidelined for so long," said the Liverpool midfielder.

The Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva has handed a huge boost to the Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers after returning to training following several weeks out with an injury.

The 25-year-old Brazilian has become one of the integral parts of the Liverpool team over the last few seasons. He has not only been able to break up play, but he has also been instrumental in starting the attacks by playing as a defensive midfielder. He was one of the best players for the Liverpool team under the ill-fated Kenny Dalglish era. Rodgers was hoping to have the player on a regular basis this season.

However, he recently was injured once again and a medical staff put his recovery time at 12 weeks. Now, he has just returned from his injury problems and is expected to be back in to first-team action shortly. The player has made just four appearances this season after suffering a thigh injury during the early part of the campaign. He has not played for the club as the 2-2 draw with Manchester City back in August. The 25-year-old has said that his delighted to be back into full training, while the sentiment was also echoed by the manager ahead of the match with Wigan.

“Lucas has worked tirelessly in his rehabilitation, so he comes back out on to the field in a good moment. He won’t be ready to play for the weekend, but certainly over the next couple of weeks he’ll be very close,” said Brendan Rodgers. "Happy to be back and feeling good. Just get some more training session and I hope I will be available soon," said Lucas Leiva on his return from injury. Liverpool certainly need the services of Lucas badly after they are struggling in the bottom half of the table in the 12th position.

The manager of Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers, has said that Lucas Leiva’s injury is not good news for the team and the midfielder’s absence would certainly disturb the team combination. Leiva had injured himself in the match against Manchester City a few days back.

The injury was quite severe and he looked in a lot of pain. According to the medical reports, Leiva might have to go through a surgery and in case of surgery; he would have to be out of the team for the next three months. This is the second big injury that Leiva has discovered in the last 10 months. In November last year, he had injured his knee which kept him out of the game for 7 months.

Rodgers said that it’s pretty disappointing for Leiva to get injured again. He had recovered from his knee injury after working so hard and now, he has got another blow. He would have been gutted at this point of time. But, he has got great temperament and hopefully, he would get rid of this injury pretty soon. On being asked whether Leiva needs a surgery or not, Rodgers said that nothing can be speculated at the moment. Leiva would take the advice of a specialist and then, anything would be decided regarding his surgery.

In the match in which Leiva got injured, Liverpool gave a tough fight to Manchester City and didn’t let the Premier League Champions secure a victory. Both the teams scored two goals each and the match ended in a draw. Luis Suarez and Martin Skrtel scored the two goals for Liverpool. On being asked about the performance of Liverpool in the match, Rodgers said that the team could have won the match, but, the players lost a few chances in the second half and allowed City to comeback in the match. Hopefully, the players would have learnt from their mistakes and would not repeat these mistakes in the further matches.

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Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva has said that he expects the youngster Jonjo Shelvey to become an important member of the Liverpool squad in the next few years. The former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was instrumental in bringing Jonjo Shelvey into the first-team action. He was signed from Charlton athletic for just £ 1 million. Even though he has not been of a great influence in the first full season with the club, the Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva expects him to be instrumental in Liverpool's success in the next few seasons. Lucas Leiva experienced mixed reviews during his initial few seasons as a Liverpool player, but he has grown into a vital component.

He was extremely influential under Kenny Dalglish so much so that Liverpool were experiencing relegation form without the Brazilian international in the second half of the season. He has now successfully recovered from the anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in the Carling cup match against Chelsea last season. Jonjo Shelvey has had a relatively quiet start to his Anfield career after he has made just 16 appearances and scored only two goals last season. Yet, Lucas Leiva has seen enough in the youngster to suggest that he might become a great player one-day.

"Jonjo is a young player, but he’s been with us for two or three seasons so we have seen every day he has a lot of quality and I think he will be a very good player for this club. He has been very impressive in pre-season and I am looking forward to helping him when he wants me to. Hopefully he will be a great addition this season. My advice to him would be just to keep working hard and when he gets a chance, to try and take it," said Lucas Leiva while on the pre-season tour.