Liverpool close to Lucas deal

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.
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He is supposed to be very good, but will Liverpool have too many central midfielders?

Sissoko, Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard and Lucas?

well we don't actually own mascha yet

and sissoko isn't the long term answer


Can't believe our first new signing is a centre mid though

i thought Sissoko was the new Viera?

Batman wrote:i thought Sissoko was the new Viera?

are you a fan of mr gray then?

COTR wrote:

Batman wrote:i thought Sissoko was the new Viera?

are you a fan of mr gray then?

According to the Portuguese press it's only lacking the signature, everything is agreed, a price of €10million, Lucas already owns 20% of his value, so should receive €2million of this fee.

So this probably means that either Liverpool aren't signing Masch or that their looking to offload one of Alonso or Sissoko

how come it suddenly seems so easy to get young south americans in? pool have got paletta, insua and now lucas. none of whom are internationals, as far as i know....isn't there work permit issues? or have these guys all got dual-nationalities?

debaser wrote:how come it suddenly seems so easy to get young south americans in? pool have got paletta, insua and now lucas. none of whom are internationals, as far as i know....isn't there work permit issues? or have these guys all got dual-nationalities?

and leto

debaser wrote:how come it suddenly seems so easy to get young south americans in? pool have got paletta, insua and now lucas. none of whom are internationals, as far as i know....isn't there work permit issues? or have these guys all got dual-nationalities?

Well said.

Parks lives wrote:

debaser wrote:how come it suddenly seems so easy to get young south americans in? pool have got paletta, insua and now lucas. none of whom are internationals, as far as i know....isn't there work permit issues? or have these guys all got dual-nationalities?

Well said.

wasn't really saying anything. it was a genuine question. i'm confused. why do chelsea have to loan out alex but liverpool can play paletta?

Sebastián Leto (born August 30, 1986, Alejandro Korn, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football player who currently plays for Club Atlético Lanús, on loan from Liverpool. He is a fast-paced left winger, but is unusually tall for the position at 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in).

Leto broke into the Lanús first team in 2005. In summer 2006 there were rumours linking him with a move to Real Betis for €4 million. River Plate and Racing Club were interested in buying him before Liverpool stepped in to sign the youngster in January of 2007 for $3.6 million. Leto will join Liverpool for the start of the 2007-2008 season. The player stated that he is relishing the chance to play for Liverpool, "I am calm. Liverpool is a club with a lot of history. I do not fear the challenge," said Leto


Emiliano Insúa (born January 7, 1989) is a 18-year-old Argentinian left-back who had previously played for Boca Juniors, but signed for English Premier League club Liverpool on 28 November 2006, to join the club in January 2007 on loan.

The left back did not make the first-team breakthrough at La Bombonera, but has been tipped for a bright future.

Reds scouts Frank McParland and Eduardo Macia highlighted Insúa's potential to Rafa Benitez and a deal was finalised.

Liverpool will take the player on an initial 18 month loan period [1] for which they paid nearly £100,000 - after which point they will pay a further £1 million to finalise the move.[citation needed] On 28th of April 2007, Insúa made his first start for Liverpool in the Premiership away game against Portsmouth.

Insúa currently represents Argentina at Under-20 level. He was picked to form part of the 20 man Argentina squad for the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay.



Paletta came from the youth teams of Club Atlético Banfield and reached the first team in 2005. When Banfield qualified for the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores, they altered their 25 man squad for the event to include Paletta and immediately threw him into action against the Colombian team Independiente Medellín. Paletta played well and Banfield progressed, but Paletta was to play no further part in the tournament after being called up to the Argentinian under-20 team to participate in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Paletta started all seven games playing in the heart of the Argentine defence. Argentina, lead upfront by Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero went on to win the tournament and Paletta's performances brought him to the attention of Liverpool's scouts.

Rafael Benítez said of the player: "Paletta is very tough and he's exactly the sort of player we need who will suit the Premiership. When you talk about the Argentinean defenders I worked with in Valencia, Paletta is more like Roberto Ayala than Mauricio Pellegrino. If you're talking about Liverpool, he's more like Jamie Carragher than Sami Hyypiä. This is good because we will have a balance in the style of defenders."[citation needed]

Liverpool are believed to have paid a fee in the region of ₤2 million for the young defender. He put pen to paper on a 4-year deal on July 4, 2006




plus gonzalez, mascha and auerlio who must have EU passports. I have no idea how this is all working with regards to work permits and non eu players

They have 6 South Americans, once you add in Gonzalez and Mascherano.

Surely there is a limit?

Parks lives wrote:

debaser wrote:how come it suddenly seems so easy to get young south americans in? pool have got paletta, insua and now lucas. none of whom are internationals, as far as i know....isn't there work permit issues? or have these guys all got dual-nationalities?

Well said.

Well COTR, it is an issue! Quite a few of them are quite frankly $h!t, should there not be Work permit issues?

Tweedle wrote:Well COTR, it is an issue! Quite a few of them are quite frankly $h!t, should there not be Work permit issues?

I've no idea

there was certainly a work permit issue with gonzalez if you remember

are you suggesting we are bunging the foreign office



more info on lucas 'the brazilian gerrard'

http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showthread.php?t=215378

Well you've bunged UEFA before....

Parks lives wrote:Well you've bunged UEFA before....

thought you had given up on the windups spank

tut tut

Had done, however I'm bored at the moment so I'm giving it a go again. Also it's not like it's changed you, Obi, Roger or Glennus.

It seems dodgy, thats all. Not that anyone's particularly bothered anyway cos they're all $h!t

I remember back before you signed Insua you lot were saying in a few years he'd be one of the world's best left back

Same with Paletta - not every South American turns out to be a Maradonna. In all honesty you've wasted about £10m on these players and IMO none of them will ever become first team regs.

to be fair, we've hardly seen any of these players. but look at agger, who made only a couple of appearances last season and has now established himself as a regular. seems a bit early to write them off.

Tweedle wrote:It seems dodgy, thats all. Not that anyone's particularly bothered anyway cos they're all $h!t

I remember back before you signed Insua you lot were saying in a few years he'd be one of the world's best left back

Same with Paletta - not every South American turns out to be a Maradonna. In all honesty you've wasted about £10m on these players and IMO none of them will ever become first team regs.

you barely know the first thing about any of them tweedle

paletta has been terrible but you can't really write defenders off at such a young age, especially when they can't speak the language and communication is one of the most important parts of defending

Insua has barely played FFS. they are future signings, something you as an arsenal fan should surely appreciate

Why did Liverpool needed another DM , does that means Alonso is going or Masch wont be signed.

Alonso is going, because he's been so disappointing.

Yes but surely if Insua was hlaf decent he'd have played a couple of first team games in Argentina by now. no doubt he's probably half decent but the world's next best left winger?

Most of our signings have at least played a few games - Diaby was France's under 21 captain, Denilson had played about 15 games or so.

Sure, now and again you strike lucky, but Benitez is hardly regarded for his nurturing of youngsters, unlike Wenger - its not a dig, because with more experienced players Benitez seems far more accomplished than Wenger, but if you gave both Wenger and Benitez the same player and asked them to nurture him, I know full well who would look the better player after two years

Parks lives wrote:Alonso is going, because he's been so disappointing.

spanky seriously stop ruining the bloody thread



alonso has been in talks about a new contract though so if they are stalling he could be on his way for a big enough bid from madrid

You shouldn't offer him more than £15k a week.

COTR what do you reckon Lucas is 20 , Masc is 22 , dont remember what age Alonso is but still young for a CM , Momo is also young something have to give.

Tweedle wrote:Yes but surely if Insua was hlaf decent he'd have played a couple of first team games in Argentina by now. no doubt he's probably half decent but the world's next best left winger?

Most of our signings have at least played a few games - Diaby was France's under 21 captain, Denilson had played about 15 games or so.

Sure, now and again you strike lucky, but Benitez is hardly regarded for his nurturing of youngsters, unlike Wenger - its not a dig, because with more experienced players Benitez seems far more accomplished than Wenger, but if you gave both Wenger and Benitez the same player and asked them to nurture him, I know full well who would look the better player after two years

Liverpool will take the player on an initial 18 month loan period [1] for which they paid nearly £100,000 - after which point they will pay a further £1 million to finalise the move.[citation needed] On 28th of April 2007, Insúa made his first start for Liverpool in the Premiership away game against Portsmouth.

Insúa currently represents Argentina at Under-20 level. He was picked to form part of the 20 man Argentina squad for the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay.



are you having a bad day today or something tweeds ???

Dark Savante wrote:COTR what do you reckon Lucas is 20 , Masc is 22 , dont remember what age Alonso is but still young for a CM , Momo is also young something have to give.

posted my thoughts on it in the liverpool thread mate