Lucas Leiva

Lucas Pezzini Leiva (born 9 January 1987), known as Lucas or Lucas Leiva (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈlukɐz ˈlejvɐ]), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder for Grêmio, Liverpool, Lazio and the Brazil national team.

Lucas began his career as a box-to-box midfielder at Grêmio, where he won the Campeonato Gaúcho in 2006 and 2007. In July 2007 he moved to Liverpool, where he played 247 professional matches over the course of a decade, winning the League Cup in 2012. Between 2010 and 2016, Lucas led the Premier League in tackles per game five times in six seasons. He has the second most tackles in Premier League history, and has made the 5th most Premier League appearances among fellow Brazilians. He joined Lazio in 2017, winning a Coppa Italia title before briefly returning to Grêmio in 2022.

A full international since 2007, he has earned 24 caps and represented Brazil at the 2008 Olympics and 2011 Copa América, winning a bronze medal at the former. He also captained the under-20 team to victory in the 2007 South American Youth Championship.

Club career

Grêmio

Born in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Lucas began his career at Grêmio as a midfielder in 2005. The following year was a successful year for him, as Grêmio won the Rio Grande do Sul state championship (the Campeonato Gaúcho) for the first time since 2001, and also came third in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Lucas also became the youngest player ever to receive Placar magazine's Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball), given to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro – an honour previously won by the likes of Zico, Falcão, Careca, Alex, Romário, Robinho, Kaká and Carlos Tevez.