Lucas Leiva Once Again Faces An Uncertain Future

Like clockwork, every summer seems to bring about rumor speculation about Liverpool's longest serving player, midfielder Lucas Leiva, and this one is no exception. Last summer he was famously nearly out the door and off to Besiktas before injuries forced manager Brendan Rodgers to reconsider.

The Brazilian has dealt with jeering from the Liverpool fans early in his tenure and skeptical managers looking to offload him to Europe. However, he has always been vocal about wanting to stay in Liverpool, and when given the opportunity to play, consistently does a generally effective, if not extraordinary, job in the midfield.

This summer may be when his luck finally runs out, as manager Jürgen Klopp has already brought in Marko Grujic to shore up the midfield, and will likely add one or both of Piotr Zielinski and Mahmoud Dahoud before the window closes, not to mention options like Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Emre Can, and Joe Allen already on the books. There will be movement out of the club in this summer, especially without European football to play, and right now it seems like Joe Allen and Lucas Leiva may both be playing somewhere else come September 1st.

Speaking earlier this week, Lucas said regarding his future, "There have been some changes last season, with the coaching change. I still do not know exactly what will be my role within the group, but I am returning (to England) on Thursday to start the pre-season.

"It is the first transfer window in which Klopp will participate more actively in Liverpool, so I’ll just get a better idea when I return. Whatever happens, the idea, as always, is to stay in Europe, especially in England, which has a very strong and good league to play."

With two days before the summer transfer window officially kicks off, it's clear that Klopp and Liverpool will have some work to do.