24 Dec 2014

'Get Him': Top boss confirms he wants to sign 'great' €12m LFC star. Sell or keep?

Last month, Liverpool star Lucas Leiva publicly warned Brendan Rodgers that he is thinking about 'leaving' Anfield, and admitted that he's currently 'looking around' for a new club. Inter Milan are one of the teams currently linked with Lucas, and on Tuesday, Inter boss Roberto Mancini officially confirmed Inter's interest in signing the Brazilian midfielder.

When asked last night whether Inter are planning to make a January bid for €12m-rated Lucas, Mancini told reporters:

"[Lucas Leiva] is a great player, but he belongs to Liverpool and it's going to be hard to get him. He would be useful, though, as he can help us, and help our younger players grow."

In recent months, Lucas has made clear his frustration at playing a bit role at Liverpool:

* In October, he warned: “I want to play. I need to find a solution either at Liverpool or at another club. [if] I don’t find space at Liverpool, I should start to make a move".

* Lucas also confirmed that Napoli tried to sign him over the summer: “There was something with Napoli but it wasn’t a positive situation for both parties. Despite this, it’s true that Benitez always had great faith in me.”

* Speaking to Radio Marca in November, Lucas sent another indirect message to Rodgers: "I must think about leaving as there is no room for me at Liverpool. I'm not speaking to anyone at the moment, but I am looking around, given I am not playing".

* Soon after, Lucas's Agent, Henrique Coelho, also confirmed that a January transfer is possible: “Is it possible that Lucas could leave Liverpool in January? Yes, naturally. Lucas really likes Rafa Benitez. After all, the two know each other well from when the Spaniard was manager of Liverpool.”

Lucas - recently hailed by Rodgers for his 'incredible' attitude - is a model professional, but despite his recent return to the first team, he is still (arguably) a dead man walking at Anfield, and it's surely just a matter of time before he moves on to another club.

Like Glen Johnson, and Jose Enrique, Lucas is the past, not the future. He'd make a great squad player, but he clearly wants to be a consistent first-choice, and in the long-term, that's just not going to happen.

That said, if Lucas had been in the team all season, Liverpool's defensive record would probably look much better right now. The Brazilian is the club's best (i.e. only) dedicated defensive midfielder, but a team with genuine ambitions of winning the title needs a more consistently effective player in that position.

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52 comments:

  1. Only if they bring in a replacement

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  2. I've not been his greatest fan lately, but must admit that he's in decent form and the team has looked more solid with Lucas in it. He remains our only dedicated defensive midfielder, so selling him in January is (IMO) a very poor idea. We simply don't have adequate experienced cover for that position.

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  3. He is Liverpool's best defensive midfielder.

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  4. Just play him, lfc looks way better when he is in the team at the moment. Talk of him moving should be next season if he wants to leave.

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  5. We need an impoverishment in that position
    but right now we have priories up front and in goal
    so we might have to keep him for another 4 months

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  6. .........................................Sterling
    ......................................Lallana..............Coutinho/Balotelli
    Moreno........................Gerrard/Can...........Lucas.....Markovic/Henderson
    .......................................Sakho........Lovren/Skrtel......Toure
    .........................................................Mignolet

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  7. He's been in decent form of late, but moments like at the end of the arsenal game, when he got tackled for being too slow in midfield and it took a great save from jones to prevent another goal. Mistakes like these's have always been a trademark of lucas, a bit like his shooting ability. He's does not have the physical attributes to command that role. Many people like myself are really surprised why Emre Can has not played more of that role this season, especially after scoring that wonder goal and see then has not featured.

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  8. Don't u mean improvement? Is your maths as 'good' as your english

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  9. I dont understand why people rate him. All he does is make silly fouls in dangerous places. When have you ever seen him break up an attack early or make a goal line clearance with a last ditch tackle? Hes never where hes supposed to be and he is not strong either. Compare him to Strootman or Mascherano. Even Schneiderlin. He doesnt even come close.

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  10. Shows how bad we are in that position if he's being classed as good- time to move on

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  11. Those silly fouls have often helped us. At least he provides resistance. Others just let players run past them. Lets'see- would I rather have silly fouls or no midfield protection. I am not the biggest fan of Lucas but he does the job and free kicks are just part of it. how many times to people score from direct free kicks?

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  12. Just like the one Gerrard committed against Arsenal on Sunday and then they scored. Lets just put our fragile defensive under even more pressure shall we.
    Crazy......like i said before Emre Can is the one for that role, the only reason lucas is playing of late suggests BR is gearing up for a jan transfer window.

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  13. it was auto correct

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  14. i cant get my head why we would sell Lucas for peanuts yet keep a 34 year old Gerrard yet say lucas belongs to the past .....am i missing something hes 7 years younger than Gerrard and is the only experienced dm in the squad ...Rodgers wont play can and allen is allen ....lucas plays and we have a bit of bite

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  15. its not ideal eric but he put more tackles in against arsenal than Gerrard has all season in the position

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  16. rodgers doent seem to rate can for the position hence he doent pick him

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  17. Why sell him? He's playing well and doing exactly what we need a DM to be doing. Daft decision to get rid of him. I can think of many LFC players who deserve shafting before Lucas.


    The only reason he wasn't in the team was because Rodgers needed to shoehorn Gerrard into the team at all costs.


    Anyway, as it stands we already need a second DM, so if we sell Lucas in January we'd need to bring in two next month. This course of action would be daft.

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  18. Liverpool need a DM, and therefore Lucas should stay, unless we find TWO new DMs, since he is a capable back-up. Anyone watch the Neville and Carra on MNF analysing the game? Very accurate reflections of where we sit at the moment. We may be getting the midfield bite back via the fast, direct passing play, but we're still toothless in both box.


    I long for a Liverpool team that, as Neville would put it, are not only beautiful, but horrible. Play beautiful when we need to, and play horrible when we need to. Not horrible in the sense of performing badly, but horrible in the sense of earning the right to play; and trying to stop the other team from playing. Look at the ugly sequence of events before Atletico's beautiful first goal against Bilbao. It was a beautiful goal, but they were only able to make that beautiful goal because they did the dirty work first; intently fighting for aerial balls not only to win the ball, but to stop Bilbao from playing as well. Chelsea are the only team in the EPL who purely achieve this at the moment, and IMO it's a HUGE reason why they are marvelous in big games under Mourinho. Unfortunately, it's a facet of the game that's faded from England in recent years...

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  19. He must see Can as a future replacement for Gerrard.

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  20. Which says it all and partially explains our defensive record since Mascherano left.

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  21. But that's like saying we should keep Borini because hes a better striker than me. The sad predicament is that we have not one decent DM in our squad. And that needs to be fixed. Lucas has no other use than being our least poor DM. Gerrard can still performance in a more advanced role and yes we have to accept Gerrard is past his best. So is Totti though and he still plays on because the players around him ensure he can play to his strengthen same for Pirlo. Gerrards problem is that he is surround by mediocrity like Allen and Lucas. Sell them, replace adequately and see what happens.

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  22. Its tactics from BR.....he knows Can is for the future and is kind off protectinghence why he's putting lucas in the shop window.

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  23. So we should keep him because others are also poor? How does that move us forward? We once wooooooohoooo had the best midfield in the world. That's where we should go back to. Not accept that were poor

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  24. Sell him for €12m? Yes
    Sell him for less? NOT!

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  25. BR continues to bash Balotelli at every chance he gets. Someone just kill him.

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  26. it was not his signing neither was sakho

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  27. If Rodgers had his way with the players he wanted THAT WOULD BE WILLING TO JOIN so not including Mkhitaryan,Sachez etc


    this would be the team :
    ..........................................Bony
    Lallana..............................Eriksen..................Sterling
    ..................................Allen............Gerrard
    Betrand.......................Williams.........Lovren.........Johnson
    ..............................................Vorm


    bench: Lambert,Markovic,Coutinho,Henderson,Skrtel,Enrique, Jones


    That looks a much more solid team defensively and offensively

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  28. If you think that team is solid, good for you.

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  29. Play Can(and Allen) for the festive period and decide based on that.
    If they offer 10 mill pounds, sell regardless.

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  30. If Lucas does not go in January then he will be gone by the next window. I am more interested to know who is being lined up as our next coach or manager.

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  31. My minimum bribe level is one turnip too, so yeah, I guess so.

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  32. Well while you wait why not discuss imidiate things and not repeat yourself.

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  33. gerrard legs have gone he needs to go he ruins the balance of the team and poor players are running past him he is a passenger and dead wood we carrying.... but rodgers will not drop his landlord

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  34. I agree mate. We can do a lot better than Lucas and should be doing a lot better. But, he is a good squad player to have and currently is our best DM and provides at least a bit of solidarity and resistance. He is a committed and passionate player and a good player to have in a squad. To compare, I would rate him better than Mikel at Chelsea. If we can get a Lars Bender with Lucas as backup, we can be strong in that area. What I wanted to say was Lucas does a job and is not a poor player? Obviously we should do better.

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  35. thats defence is garbage and with allen and Gerrard protecting it is double garbage

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  36. that makes no sense its a circular argument ..........he rates can over lucas yet plays lucas

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  37. its nothing like that eric ......we concede less goals when lucas plays regardless of how he performs

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  38. rodgers is clueless ,hes now saying balo doesnt suit liverpool ,why sign him then i genunily think he just rolls a dice on team selection and tactics

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  39. hes lost the dressing room for me .......its strange how a certain demographic of squad support him yet others dont ,thats spells split team

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  40. lucas like sako and balo are the clubs whipping boys ,they attract flak when other players perform worse

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  41. I disagree. Let me first say that I think Rodgers is to blame for our current predicament. however, I can tell you exactly why all three of them are weak based on nothing but their own performances. That's not to say that its just those three we can do without. I agree there are many more.

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  42. I put that last moment down to fatigue if anything.

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  43. I agree hes not a bad squad player but if someone really wants to pay 12 million for him I say do it. Eepecially if that would mean Rossiter would have a better chance of playing more often

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  44. That's a bizarre thing for Rodgers to say a few months after signing the guy. And not just any dice, but dice loaded in favour of his golden boys.


    This scapegoating thing has been a feature of Rodgers' tenure since Nuri Sahin.

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  45. That's neither Balo nor Sakho's fault, so I implore Rodgers to stop making childish statements.


    So he didn't get the players he wanted. Or maybe he got some of them. Boo-hoo. Worse things have happened to better people. That's still not a good reason to constantly pick on a group of players like a jealous stepfather.

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  46. Sorry, I dont buy that......many times throughout his career, lucas has been too slow to react at key stages, giving away posession, hence why he got dropped this season. I played football for over 26 years at decent level and i could easily tell if someone was coming from behind without turning my head. Its called being streetwise on a football pitch.

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  47. So why has it taken till December for BR to play him then??

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  48. B Rodgers should ship out L Leiva(27) to Inter Milan for £9-£10m and then get upgrade and offer Southampton £17-£21M and bring in mobile, tough tackling, ball playing, effective and smart M Schneiderlin(25)

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