Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It seems as if Lucas Leiva’s time at Liverpool could be coming to an end. Jurgen Klopp has intimated that he will not stand in the Brazilian international’s way should offers come in for him during the January transfer window and Inter Milan are believed to be heading the queue in a race to earn his signature.
It is believed that the 2010 Champions League winners would be looking to sign Lucas on an initial loan period until the end of the season with a move then being made permanent there after. If that was to be the case then it would bring an end to Lucas’ stint on Merseyside.
Bought to Merseyside by Rafa Benitez back in 2007 it has been a steady if not spectacular stint for the club. In a 9 year spell he has only managed to pick up one piece of silverware, with that being the 2012 League Cup success when they beat Cardiff on Penalties.
But Leiva would not feature in the final and only picked up a medal after appearing in earlier rounds of the competition due to the fact that he was out injured from December 2011. He would be on the sidelines for the rest of the season after picking up a serious cruciate ligament injury against Chelsea in the League Cup Quarter Finals.
And critics would argue that he has never quite been the same player since that return. That’s not to be harsh to Lucas but many players are rarely the same after suffering an injury of such magnitude. That said he was still trusted with over 70 Premier League appearances over the next three seasons under the helm of both Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp.
But this season his route to the first team looks to be have been somewhat curtailed with the Brazilian falling down the pecking order. He has made just 8 Premier League appearances with only 3 of them coming in the form of a starting eleven berth.
And it’s here where Jurgen Klopp has decided to be honourable enough not to stand in Lucas way should another offer come in for the player. In light of his lengthy years of service it seems as if his time is now coming to a natural conclusion with an amicable parting of ways.
With Lucas turning 30 at the start of next year he is now at the age where he feels he should be a fixture of a first team lineup and not have to be competing with a now diminished squad role. Unfortunately that is not something that can be promised to him at Anfield.
That said that is something that Inter Milan can definitely offer. The Italian giants have gone through some turmoil this season after sacking Frank De Boer early in the season but there is no doubting the size of this club and a move here will offer Lucas a new challenge after such a long period of time in the Premier League.
Inter are looking to bolster their own squad and will try to make a push for the Europa League places once again at the end of the season. Unfortunately they will not have European Football to offer as a selling point after crashing out of this season’s Europa League in the group stages.
With Jurgen Klopp’s squad being a continual work in progress it still is not quite what the former Borussia Dortmund manager would call his group of players and this means that Lucas is another of the unfortunate ones that is shown the Anfield exit door.
Liverpool fans will certainly not forget the service that Lucas has given them in nearly a decade on Merseyside but unfortunately for him he seems to be the forgotten man under Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool bid for a first league title since 1990.
