FeatureMy Liverpool Story… with Lucas Leiva

You probably know my story pretty well – an incredibly tough start, eventually winning the fans over, devastating injuries and then staying for a decade. It's been well-covered in documentaries, podcasts, interviews and in other ways.

I wanted to do something different with this, so here I'll shed a little light on some stories you probably won't have heard before from my time at this truly special club.

I hope you enjoy…

How it all could have been so different

A few months before I got the offer to go to Liverpool, a Russian team actually made an offer for me. And I was aware that Atletico Madrid were very keen on signing me as well.

But then Liverpool came in and, to be honest, it was an easy decision. It was very straightforward.

The negotiations started in February and then in March or April I went to Liverpool to visit the city and the club.

A scary first day

I remember my first day as a Liverpool player like it was yesterday.

I had been in Canada playing for Brazil U20s at the World Cup and I flew back to Brazil to get my things. Then I flew to London to meet up with the Liverpool squad because we were going to Hong Kong for our pre-season tour.

I was just in a room waiting. I was only 20 years old, couldn't speak any English – still can't, by the way! – and then my new teammates started arriving: Steven Gerrard, Peter Crouch, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano.

I was like, 'Wow, where am I?!'

It was scary because I expected to meet fellow Brazilian Fabio Aurelio, but he was injured and had stayed back in Liverpool.

No Brazilians, I couldn't speak English, 20 years old – it was really hard. It was scary, to be honest.

But looking at those players in that moment was the realisation of a dream coming true.

How I became a defensive midfielder

I don't think I would have lasted very long at Liverpool if I stayed as an attacking midfielder.

I just didn't have the characteristics to play as a box-to-box midfielder and, of course, with Stevie there, it was going to be really hard for me to get game time.

Rafa Benitez saw something in me in terms of qualities to play that holding midfield role and was very patient. I think he could see that maybe Xabi or Mascherano were probably going to move on and maybe he saw a place where I could benefit. I had to learn.

I didn't really care about the position switch, to be honest, because I just wanted to succeed at the club. For me, it was an opportunity to do well.

I was very young but I was clever enough to see that maybe in the other positions I wasn't going to play as much as I wanted and I wasn't going to succeed.

I didn't want to fail at the club, I always knew that it was a unique opportunity for me to play for Liverpool and I had to make the most of it.

I think it ended up working out.

Why I cut my long hair

A life-changing moment!

We were travelling to play against Real Madrid in the Champions League, but the flight ended up getting delayed and we all went back home.

I got back home and had a very short sleep, like half an hour. I woke up and my hair was all over the place. I was quite late as well. Then I just said, 'It's done, I don't want to lose time anymore thinking about my hair.'

Long hair gives you work to do!

That was the moment that I thought I needed to cut the hair.

And also, I was planning to become a father – there's nothing wrong with long hair, by the way – but I thought short hair would be more convenient for me.

The game I felt unbeatable

November 27, 2011 – Anfield. Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City. I felt at the peak of my powers that day.

I just felt the best I ever felt in my career.

Unfortunately, a matter of days later, I got a really, really bad knee injury that put me out for a long time. It was a big lesson for me and showed you're not unbeatable.

Sometimes you think you are at your peak and nothing bad will happen, and then unfortunately that injury happened.

When I nearly retired at the age of 25

The knee injury wasn't a problem because if you speak to 95 per cent of players who have had this injury they'll tell you it's a long time out but eventually you get back.

The problem was when I did all the pre-season ahead of 2012-13 and in the warm-up for the second game of the season I ruptured my muscle. I had a big tear that kept me out for three months. Both those injuries meant I was out for pretty much a whole year.

I'll be honest, at that moment it came to my mind that I was going to retire or not be able to play anymore. It was a very, very dark moment for me. The doubt was always there.

Of course I had many more injuries after, but I think this one was the one that made me doubt if I was going to get back playing.

What I'm most known for

It's crazy to think that after all I did in my career, I'm mostly known outside of the Liverpool world for a viral social media clip.

UNLUCKYYYYYYY.

I think a lot of young people haven't even watched me play but they know me because of that.

It was something that just came out in a very funny way. I swear I didn't prepare and I couldn't have imagined the reaction.

I think it's still going today – just not as much.

The testimonial question

Everyone asks me about this.

At that moment the club was planning something for me and they gave me the option to do a party and bring some friends from Brazil. The club thought it was the best thing to do to show their appreciation. We had a big party, 'Lucas, 10 years as a Red.'

It was a fantastic memory that I will never forget because I think 50 people from Brazil came.

Of course it would have been nice if I was going to get a testimonial, but I saw with the party that the club did something different. For me, it was enough in terms of the club's appreciation.

But it wasn't like, 'You didn't want a testimonial, the club didn't want one.' The option was to do this party with the family and a lot of friends.

The tears flowed when I said goodbye

I cried at my final meeting with Jürgen Klopp in the summer of 2017.

I spoke many times with Jürgen – our relationship is still fantastic – but there were two times I spoke to him about maybe leaving.

Jürgen came in and I played a lot of games under him, but I always felt he was going to build a new team with new players and a new style of play. I was clever enough to understand that my style of play wouldn't necessarily fit the way he wanted.

He was always very honest, I was always very honest with him.

He arrived in October 2015 and in the January I had a big offer from China. I remember a couple of days before the game against Man United, I said, 'Listen, I've had this offer. Let's be fair, it's a lot of money and I'm not sure if I'm going to play here. What do you think?'

He said, 'Lucas, I understand, but I cannot let you go because I only arrived four months ago and I need you. You will play a big part.' He always used to say, 'I cannot promise you're going to play as much as you want, but I can promise you that you're going to play a big part.'

That's why I always liked Jürgen – because he was always very honest.

In another moment I had a very good opportunity but Jürgen said, 'I still need you.' I was coming to my last year of my Liverpool contract and he said, 'Next year, if something good comes for you, I will help you out.' That was the case.

That pre-season when Lazio came in for me, I felt it was the right moment. They were flying to Hong Kong in the afternoon and in the morning came that Lazio offer. He said, 'Stay back, get everything done, don't worry.'

It was emotional. I cried and he did a little bit as well because of the respect we had for each other.

Thanks very much for reading,

Lucas

Lucas was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Glenn Price

More from the series…

• Gary McAllister
• Ragnar Klavan
• Emile Heskey
• Luis Garcia
• Kolo Toure