Lazio tweet picture of Liverpool stalwart as move nears completion

Rob McCarthy

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva appears to be closing in on a move to Lazio after the Italian club posted a picture of the Brazilian on their official Twitter account.

The Brazilian, who had been the subject of a £5million bid, was pictured holding a Lazio scarf at an airport.

Lucas is Liverpool’s current longest-serving player after a decade on Merseyside, but was left out of the squad for a friendly against Wigan last week as he considers his future.

The 30-year-old, who made 19 starts in all competitions last season and 346 for the club in total, had recently entered the final year of his contract.

In the last 18 months Jurgen Klopp has asked Lucas to stay on to provide some much-needed experience, despite interest from a number of clubs in Turkey and Italy, but has clearly decided not to stand in his way as he pursues regular first-team football elsewhere.

“I am not 100 per cent sure, but I think for Lucas, (who’s had an) outstanding, fantastic time at Liverpool, we should talk about facts and not rumours. Maybe something, maybe not,” Klopp had said last week, before his squad travelled to Hong Kong to continue their pre-season preparations.