Liverpool Must Resist Inter Milan’s Approach for Increasingly Important Lucas

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Lazar Markovic took the headlines as Liverpool beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. The Serbian winger’s early goal proved the match winner and he enjoyed by far his best performance for the club since arriving in the summer from Benfica.

However, there was one more standout performance from a man in yellow—that being Lucas Leiva in Liverpool’s midfield.

The Brazilian demonstrated his growing importance to the side and also why it would be foolish for Liverpool to sell him to Inter Milan this month.

The Italian side are clearly interested in the player, with manager Brendan Rodgers asked about such a move on BT Sport pre-match, via This Is Anfield: “There will be no loan deal for Lucas. We have had nothing as of yet in writing. I have spoken to him. He has been a player who has been in the team so we will look to keep him.”

Writing in The Telegraph, Liverpool correspondent Chris Bascombe explained: “European clubs were alerted to the Brazilian’s availability when he was on the sidelines, and, even though circumstances have changed, they [Inter Milan] are still keen to sign the 28-year-old.”

 

Change

There aren’t many Liverpool supporters who would have been too disheartened had Lucas been allowed to leave the club in the summer, with reports then strongly linking him with a reunion with Rafa Benitez at Napoli, per the Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Mirror).

Indeed, a move to Italy would have made sense, with the slower pace of the game suiting his style as he struggled post-injury to recapture his form of 2010.

Having seemingly been told to find a new club, Lucas has now done that with Inter Milan—only for Liverpool to now need him in their own midfield.

For much has changed from the start of Liverpool’s season, not least in their midfield. 

The campaign began with Steven Gerrard still the de facto holding midfielder and Lucas very much a peripheral figure.

But as Gerrard began to struggle in the deep role in which he’d enjoyed great success in the latter half of last season, Lucas got his chance to shine in two successive games—at home to Swansea City in the League Cup, then away to Real Madrid in the Bernabeu. He impressed in both games.

Dumped back to the bench for the next two games, at home to Chelsea and away to Crystal Palace, it looked like no matter how well the 28-year-old performed he would find it tough to get ahead of Gerrard in the Reds’ midfield.

Alas, Rodgers reinstalled him in the next game, away to Ludogorets, and since then he’s started every game except Manchester United away—which is, incredibly, Liverpool’s only defeat in those 13 games since Lucas returned to the side. 

Lucas’ improved form has been part of Liverpool’s improved form on the whole, particularly since changing to a 3-4-2-1 shape in mid-December. Changing to three centre-backs, plus having Lucas in midfield, has given Rodgers’ side better balance and improved stability at the back. The leaky defence now has a protector in front of them and no longer are opposition midfielders able to run unopposed through Liverpool’s midfield.

 

Sunderland

This protection of the defence was underlined by Lucas’ performance against Sunderland, where he recorded six tackles (more than any other player on the pitch, as per WhoScored). Two interceptions and three clearances added to his defensive contribution, while one key pass and a pass accuracy of 90.2 percent certainly showed his influence overall.

Breaking up play and keeping it simple can be an undervalued aspect of the modern game, and Lucas is certainly proving that since his reintroduction to the side. He has become a key cog in the Liverpool engine room.

 

Inter interest

The Liverpool Echo‘s James Pearce says Liverpool are “reluctant” to sell Lucas now and it’s clear to see why.

You can, though, understand why the player himself may take the move if Liverpool accepted a bid—pondering what the future holds for him, especially when Liverpool inevitably overhaul their midfield in the summer following Gerrard’s departure.

The reported £7 million fee, per Pearce, would also represent a fair price for Liverpool given Lucas’ age and squad status. But accepting a bid for financial logic would be extremely disappointing given how he has become so important to the side of late.

It’s not as though there is a suitable replacement ready to take on the role Lucas has played in midfield, with Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson not as defensively sound and Emre Can actually adding a lot to the back three playing there.

A rather cryptic tweet post-Sunderland from the Brazilian did seem to indicate that he thought his time on Merseyside was coming to an end, saying, “thanks for everything”:

But Rodgers now appears to have realised his worth and will now resist Inter’s approach—something that he must do in order to keep this momentum going.

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