It was rumoured that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had blocked long serving midfielder Lucas’s move to Galatasaray after the German decided that he couldn’t afford to let the Brazilian leave with the Reds going through some what of a defensive crisis ahead of their opening weekend win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and now that theory have been confirmed with the agent of the 29-year old backing up the story.
“Klopp was behind the transfer hitting the rocks,” said his representative Metin Korkmaz, opening up about the move falling apart at the last minute. “He wants Lucas to stay and the player had to listen,” he explained quite bluntly before letting potential suitors know that it wasn’t his decision to stay at Anfield. “If it was up to Lucas he would have made the transfer.”
Out of favour and with little prospect of first team football on the horizon, it looks more than ever like the veteran midfielders time on Merseyside is drawing to a close. Turkish champions Besiktas, who missed out on a loan move for the Brazilian last summer under similar circumstances, have also been linked with an interest in the 29-year old, but the Lions are the only club believed to have made a concrete offer for his services. With the transfer window drawing to a close, that could change quite quickly.
There’d be absolutely no surprise in Galatasaray coming back late in the game for him, but there have been rumblings out of Italy that long time suitors Inter Milan are also interested in finally taking him to the San Siro — though that seems contingent on whether or not in demand Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic makes an exit. Now that known suitor Roberto Mancini is no longer at the helm, the link loses quite a bit of credibility, but it’s not hard to picture Lucas in the blue and black shirt dominating in Serie A…
