Lucas Leiva admits he is unsure whether he will be a Liverpool player next season, after almost a decade on Merseyside.
The 29-year-old has been at the club since the summer of 2007, when he signed as a highly-rated young midfielder from Gremio, for £5million.
Having suffered a tough start to life at Anfield, which included him being booed during the 2008/09 season, he has matured into a dependable figure in the Reds midfield over a number of years.
He was named the club’s Player of the Year in May 2011, and has made 315 appearances in total.
Lucas admits that his future at Liverpool remains a little unclear, however, with Jurgen Klopp likely to make major changes to his squad in the coming weeks.
“It is the first transfer window that Klopp will participate in more actively in for Liverpool, so I’ll have a better idea when I return [for pre-season],” Lucas told Radio Jovem Pan.
“Whatever happens, the idea, as always, is to remain in Europe, mainly in England, which has a very strong and good league to play in.”
These don’t sound like the most convincing of words from the Brazilian, although he has often thrown his future into doubt in recent times.
He came extremely close to leaving Liverpool last August, following a reported falling out with Brendan Rodgers, and numerous transfer rumours linked him with an exit in the years that preceded it.
Lucas found his first-team opportunities limited under Klopp last season, and he was invariably used as an auxiliary centre-back when he was given a chance to shine.
That is likely to be nothing more than a short-term move by Klopp, though, with Joel Matip signed from Schalke to bolster the Reds’ defence.
Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and James Milner are all ahead of him in the midfield pecking order, Joe Allen could still potentially stay and Marko Grujic has arrived from Red Star Belgrade.
A move elsewhere would be a sensible decision by Liverpool’s longest-serving player, who has enjoyed a very productive nine years on Merseyside.
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