Lucas Leiva’s Roman holiday

The Brazilian has flourished since joining Lazio, but part of his heart will always remain with Liverpool

You were named player of the year in your first season at Lazio, so how happy have you been at your new club? It’s been really nice – I’ve settled down easily and quickly to Italy. I feel adapted to the football style of Lazio, and that’s important when you’re starting a journey with a new club. All of that made me play well in my first season.

How frustrating was it to miss out on Champions League qualification on the season’s final day? Very. We worked hard for it and I felt we deserved to qualify as a reward for a good season. But that’s football. We made some mistakes at the end and paid a huge price. It was a big blow, but we must keep our heads high in order to improve for the new campaign. It’s going to be an extremely important season for Lazio.

You’re not known for scoring many goals, but you got some important ones in Europe last season. Did you surprise yourself? That was something special. Everyone knows that scoring goals isn’t exactly my first mission, but at Lazio I have some freedom to go forward and help the team in the transition between midfield and attack. Finding the back of the net is a nice feeling, I can’t deny it!

You played alongside Sergej Milinkovic-savic in 2017-18. How good is he? He’s a very talented player and puts a lot of effort in on the pitch. With these two key attributes, he can succeed in any European league, and he definitely could do well in the Premier League.

“EVERYONE KNOWS THAT SCORING GOALS ISN’T EXACTLY MY FIRST MISSION, BUT AT LAZIO I HAVE FREEDOM TO GO FORWARD”