Lucas Leiva

Now one of the first names on the team sheet for Brazil, Lucas Leiva’s arrival from Gremio in 2007 was seen as quite a coup for Liverpool, with a host of European Clubs vying to secure the services of the holding midfielder player. He first caught the eye in October 2005, when he became the youngest player ever to win the Bola de Ouro, an honour given to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro and previously won by Zico, Romario, Kaka and Carlos Tevez. A nephew of former Brazilian footballer Leivinha, Lucas captained his country’s U20s to the South American Youth Championship title in 2007, scoring four goals in the process. His senior international debut came a month into his Liverpool career in August 2007 when he came on as a substitute in a friendly with Algeria. He made his Reds bow as a second-half substitute in a Champions League qualifier against Toulouse on August 28, 2007. The Brazilian missed the start of the 2008-09 campaign because he was playing for his country in the Beijing Olympics, where the side won a bronze medal, losing to Argentina in the semi-final. The departure of Xavi Alonso to Real Madrid gave Lucas the opportunity to become an integral part of the team and so well did he accept it that he was voted Young Player of the Season for 2009-10. The following season, with Kenny Dalglish now at the helm, the anchorman signed a new long-term contract before going one better than the previous year by winning the fans’ Player of the Season.