On This Day: Lucas Leiva Signed For The Reds

On this day in 2007???Lucas Levia joined Liverpool.Born in Dourados Brazil, Lucas started his career with boyhood club Gremio. He was a hard-working box-to-box midfielder who had captained Brazil at Under 20 level. He made his debut for Gremio in 2005 and in his first season the club got promoted to the Brazilian first division, that season Lucas became the youngest player to receive Placar Magazine’s Bola De Ouro (Golden Ball), given to the best player in the Brazilian league with the award being previously given to players like Kaka, Zico and Falcoa.Lucas signed for the Reds in May of 2007 for £5m. He took part in 32 competitive matches during his first season in English football. He scored an incredible equaliser against Havant and Waterlooville in the FA Cup at Anfield in January 2008. Lucas was capped by is country for the first time in August 2007 and played for Brazil’s Olympic team in Beijing 2008 that finished third. He was one of the two Brazil players who were sent off in the semi-final defeat to Argentina.Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano continued to be the midfield partnership Rafa Benitez preferred during the 2008/09 season and Lucas only twice made the starting eleven. After Alonso moved to Real Madrid, it allowed Lucas to feature in more games and only Pepe Reina (52) and Dirk Kuyt (53) played in more first-team matches than the Brazilian. He won over large sections of the fan base during this season with dominant displays, he continued to be a regular throughout the campaign. In March 2011, he signed a new long-term contract that tied him to the club until 2015. Early in the 2010/11 season, Javier Mascherano left the club and fans wondered if Lucas was ready to take over from the Argentinian. Lucas was voted Standard Chartered’s Player of the Season in 2010/11 as he became one of the Reds key players. Not a renowned goal scorer, he got the Reds Europa League group stage campaign off to a great start after coming on as a substitute to drive a long-range shot past the Steaua Bucharest goalkeeper. His 2011/12 season came to an end in the worst possible way after he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee. His absence was felt by all of the club and Liverpool performances suffered when the team lost 11 out of 19 league games. He returned in August 2012 but suffered another injury during the warm up against Manchester City meaning he was side-lined until December.Once he got back into the team, he kept his place until the end of the season and made his 200^th appearance for the club in the home fixture against West Brom in February. Two months later he signed a new contract. He appeared in 29 of the club’s 43 competitive matches in 2013/14 and was used as a substitute twice as many times always giving 100%. His services to the Liverpool FC Foundation were rewarded at the club’s Players’ Awards Dinner with the Bill Shankly Award as someone who has upheld the club’s values, showing dignity, unity, commitment and ambition.After Steven Gerrard’s departure in 2015, it meant Lucas was now the longest serving player at the club and although he wasn’t a huge part of Brendan Rodgers or Jurgen Klopp’s preferred eleven, he was always reliable and did his job amazingly when called upon. After serving the club for 10 years and capturing the hearts of all Liverpool fans Lucas left for Italian side Lazio where he has been playing well.Lucas made a total of 346 appearances for the club scoring seven goals. He has also featured heavily on RedMenTV so make sure to check out all those videos too.Article by Lauren Black -@LaurenBlack9For more Redmen TV content including podcasts, subscriber exclusives and three new shows every week subscribe now and get your first month for FREE bit.ly/RMTVjoin