Liverpool FC Forum

by **Redman in wales** » Fri May 11, 2007 9:57 am

From SSN:

Liverpool have won the race for Brazilian midfielder Lucas, according to his club Gremio.

The 20-year-old has long been linked with a move for Europe, as his impressive displays as the holding midfielder for Gremio have caught the eye of watching scouts.

Gremio have claimed a host of teams came calling, but stated Liverpool acted quickly to wrap up the transfer.

"We did business very fast with Liverpool because there was a lot of interest," Gremio secretary Alfredo Oliveira told Radio Bandeirantes.

"Lucas travelled to England to present himself and although there are a few little details to be resolved, I can say that the transfer has been arranged and that Lucas will join his new team once Gremio's participation in the Copa Libertadores ends."

It is believed that Liverpool have paid in the region of £8million for the Brazil international.

Gremio are in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores, but Lucas should link-up with The Reds for pre-season in order to put pressure on the likes of Mohamed Sissoko, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano.

Link

by **metalhead** » Fri May 11, 2007 9:59 am

Check out the rumor thread mate, its already there

Anyways, never heard of the player.. so i hope for him the best!

by **Redman in wales** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:03 am

Found another article on him:

FIFA article

Wikipedia state he is a defensive midfielder:

Wiki

You boy is young and looks to be class (according to reports - never heard of him myself)... but ANOTHER defensive midfielder?

by **dawson99** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:04 am

still just a rumour people....

by **Ciggy** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:06 am

One must be off then Masch, Sissoko, Alonso?

never heard of him meself like but 8 million quid seems a lot for an unkown.

by **Redman in wales** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:08 am

sorry, forgot to check the rumour mill... although it is still a rumour it seems to carry more weight than the Eto'o and Silva rumours and they are both threads in this section.

by **dawson99** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:12 am

i know. it really gets to me when all rumours come ehre, but why not.

but this lad does sound pretty good. great if true, not for one of our existing midfielders tho

by **66-1112520797** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:54 am

Ciggy wrote:One must be off then Masch, Sissoko, Alonso?

never heard of him meself like but 8 million quid seems a lot for an unkown.

Yeah I agree.

I dont think its "holding midfielders" we need, so unless this is just a rumour, I dont know what to make of it.

Even if Rafa was buying him as a future prospect, thats feasible I suppose. But its alot of money to pay and on top of that he would take time in adapting, thats if he can or does adapt.

I wonder if this is true, then would that mean Xabi's off. :glare:

hmmm.

2 + 2 = 5

by **HacksawJimDuggin** » Fri May 11, 2007 11:55 am

It looks to be more than a rumour...

My only idea as to the thinking behind it is that Rafa will be playing a 3-5-2 formation for much of next season and that we'll have Mascherano, Alonso, Sissoko and this dude playing for 2 places in beside Stevie G!

I am all for buying new quality and what you have to look at is the guy is only 20 (i.e. one for the future).

by **Lando_Griffin** » Fri May 11, 2007 1:26 pm

Well if anyone leaves, it's got to be Sissoko.

Selling Xabi or Mascherano would be a step backwards.

by **Owzat** » Fri May 11, 2007 1:36 pm

Lando_Griffin wrote:Well if anyone leaves, it's got to be Sissoko.

Selling Xabi or Mascherano would be a step backwards.

Absolutely. We need to score goals, our defence is second only to the blues. We need to land a top top signing, I was talking to a spudz fan earlier and said I'd be happy if we bid £20m for Berbatov and also suggested I wouldn't be surprised if he left spudz - for CL football, for a big bid and while spudz are a decent club they're only in the shake up for Europe not pushing the top four. If the guy lacks ambition then he'll stay at spudz, I can't see them becoming a top four side while they have to play so many UEFA Cup games and don't spend quite as much as the big four (well maybe they do the goners)

by **DazH-** » Fri May 11, 2007 1:38 pm

Clubs like Gremio tend to say things like this to the press to alert other big clubs in the hope of receiving a higher transfer fee and given our strength in midfield, I'd say its bulls**t

by **monkey 20** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:05 pm

DazH- wrote:Clubs like Gremio tend to say things like this to the press to alert other big clubs in the hope of receiving a higher transfer fee and given our strength in midfield, I'd say its bulls**t

if so...then why would they say liverpool have already agreed a deal with gremio and the player....
if they wanted to alert other big clubs then they'd say liverpool are offering 8 mill and there could be competition for his signature...

i've seen this lad once - on a highlights program of the brazilian league and he looks a solid player, although i didn't get to seen too much of him, although he made an amazing tackle to stop a what would have been a certain goal!
he's in footie manger 07 and he gets brilliant too (but obviously that has no substance!) just all i know bout him.
maybe barca are bidding big for xabi and we'd get eto'o...who really knows what benitez is planning...
as ace said, he keeps his cards close
:cool:

by **Reg** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:29 pm

Hey lads, if you want to know what's going on in Brazil you should ask the right hombre......

Apparantly we signed him for 12 million euros (about 8 million quid?) but they say its still a secret.
He's stated as undertaking medical exams at LFC and should be back in Brazil on saturday.

http://esporte.uol.com.br/futebol/ultimas/2007/05/10/ult59u120363.jhtm

Grêmio vende volante Lucas para o Liverpool (Gremio sell Lucas to Liverpool)

Em Porto Alegre
O Grêmio ainda tenta manter a negociação em segredo, mas o volante Lucas está se transferindo para o Liverpool, da Inglaterra. O jogador, que não vem sendo aproveitado no time devido a uma lesão muscular ocorrida em jogo contra o Caxias, pelas semifinais do Campeonato Gaúcho, viajou na terça-feira à noite para a Europa, sem que o fato fosse noticiado, e foi acompanhado do vice-presidente de finanças do clube, Túlio Macedo, assim como do diretor jurídico, o advogado Gustavo Pinheiro.

De partida do Olímpico, volante Lucas deve reforçar o Liverpool a partir do meio do ano
Assim que a imprensa gaúcha tomou conhecimento de que Lucas havia viajado, a especulação inicial foi de que estaria se transferindo para o Milan, da Itália. Um processo para obtenção da cidadania italiana que está sendo encaminhado por um escritório de advocacia de Porto Alegre, reforçava essa tendência.

Para ceder Lucas - que deve se transferir após o Grêmio encerrar sua participação na Libertadores da América - o valor ainda não foi confirmado. O site Clicrbs fala em 9 milhões de euros, enquanto a Rádio Bandeirantes afirma ser uma quantia maior, 12 milhões de euros, o que seria a mais lucrativa venda de um jogador já feita na história do futebol gaúcho. O recorde até agora é da negociação de Fábio Rochemback, pelo Inter, para o Barcelona, em 2001, por US$ 12 milhões.

Nesta semana mesmo o presidente gremista, Paulo Odone, reafirmou ser necessário vender Lucas, para manter a folha salarial em dia. "Nunca escondemos essa necessidade", declarou o dirigente maior do clube gaúcho, que no começo deste 2007 esteve próximo de negociar o volante para o Lokomotiv, da Rússia. A venda não saiu porque Lucas se recusou a jogar num país onde, afirmou, sairia da vitrine e poderia perder a chance de concretizar o sonho de vir a servir logo a seleção brasileira de Dunga.

Lucas está fazendo exames médicos em Liverpool e deve retornar sábado ao Brasil. Ele tem chances de atuar na próxima semana, no Uruguai, contra o Defensor, pelas quartas-de-finais da Libertadores da América.

by **zarababe** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:51 pm

This looks like a good signing - Brazil under 20s player - golden boot winner and some top clubs were after him - another one for the 'near' future - nice one !

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Liverpool close to lucas deal - Another midfielder?

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