Steven Gerrard praises former Liverpool teammate Lucas Leiva

Newly-appointed Rangers manager Steven Gerrard spoke fondly about Lucas Leiva during a recent interview with Corriere dello Sport. The former England international shared a good camaraderie with Leiva during their time together at Liverpool and he spoke about some of the midfielder’s qualities with the Italian publication.

He said:“I wish Lucas the best of luck for the rest of his career. He is certainly one of the best people I have met during my time in football, throughout my career. I have enormous respect for Lucas, both as a player and as a person. He is one of the most professional players I have ever played alongside. He gave his very best every time he represented Liverpool. You can talk about what he gives to the team, in terms of their style of play. As a human being, Lucas has immense qualities that are just as important as his ability as a footballer.”

Leiva spent 10 seasons at Liverpool between 2007 and 2017 and during this period, he managed to make over 300 appearances – the vast majority of which came from a central midfield role. Despite this, the Brazilian could count himself unfortunate to have not won more trophies and he ended his Merseyside stint with a sole success in form of the 2011/2012 League Cup.

Since the summer of 2017, Leiva has been plying his trade for Lazio in the Serie A and the move has worked wonders for his career after a period where he was not assured of regular football under Jurgen Klopp. Leiva has made 46 appearances for Lazio during the ongoing campaign but his final appearance against Inter Milan could turn out to be the most influential yet. Lazio entertain Inter in the final game of the league season this weekend and they need to pick up at least a point to assure themselves of Champions League football for next season.