Klopp Talk: Lucas “Definitely” Staying at Liverpool

At the start of January, there were more than a few whispers that Lucas Leiva could be heading to Serie A to join Inter Milan. In truth, they were rumours that never made a great deal of sense given they only ever involved a loan deal rather than a permanent transfer.

Add in that they came from the Italian press, notorious for their poorly sourced rumour mongering, and it was easy enough to dismiss them. There is a widespread belief Lucas will move on in search of playing time in the summer, but for now he will remain a Liverpool player—and Jürgen Klopp thinks so, too.

“From my point of view, yes,” was Klopp’s response when asked whether Lucas would be at the club when the transfer window closes in a few weeks. “What’s ‘definitely’ in this job? We have a kind of agreement, so I would say yes.”

Having arrived at the club in the summer of 2006, Lucas stands the longest serving member of the current team, and though his physical talents have never fully recovered from a serious ACL injury, his versatility and ability to read the game have seen him remain a useful squad player.

“At the end of the last training session before every game we play old against young, and Lucas is top scorer in all of them,” added Klopp. “I'm really surprised he hadn't scored for that long! He is very, very loyal. He is a great personality, a good player, and a really wonderful guy. He is really important for us.”