Lucas insists Liverpool will still attract top talent

• Poignant

  9 May 10, 10:42

  Lucas insists Liverpool will still attract top talent

  Lucas Leiva insists Liverpool will still be able to attract quality signings this summer, despite failing to qualify for the Champions League.

  Having to settle for a place in the Europa rather than the Champions League will also do little to ease the club's mounting debt, which the latest financial results revealed yesterday had risen to £351.4million from £299.8million in the year ending July 31 2009.

  Those figures suggest boss Rafael Benitez is unlikely to have a huge transfer kitty, and his priority is likely to be hanging on to Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, but Lucas feels Liverpool's reputation will still attract big names.

  "Liverpool is still a big, big club. When you have played in the Champions League, everyone wants to play in this kind of competition," said the Brazilian on liverpoolfc.tv.

  "But even if we can't offer the Champions League, I'm sure the big names will still see Liverpool as a good option. Hopefully we will get some players to help us."

• Poignant

  9 May 10, 10:43

  I think he meant that players of his standard are talent.

• Medicated Oil

  9 May 10, 18:26

  Liverpool is not improving and not going to improve if they stay this way and without any changes to the players and manager.

  Lucas is just toking rot as no player would want to play for a mid table team and with a manager that will play you out of position.

  I would expect more players to leave Liverpool if Ah Ben shamelessly decided to stay around.

  Without any financial god father, Liverpool will be in a worse situation.

  I am not cursing the club that I supported but it is the reality of things.

  It is better than dreaming the club will do better under Ah Ben.

   

• Rooney9

  9 May 10, 18:27

  I am wondering how on earth did he managed to win la liga titles twice with Valencia.

• ASKL!

  9 May 10, 18:34

  ok.. liverpool can still attract. but no one would be foolish enough to declare war on their own club and say i want to join liverpool.

  and also rafa doesn't has any eyes for quality.

• godchuanz

  11 May 10, 10:44

  Well... Chamakh just rejected Liverpool and switched for Arsenal instead.  If Liverpool are having problems attracting players like Chamakh, which was supposedly a done deal just a few months back in January, how are they going to attract the top talents like Villa?

  All signs point to Liverpool becoming a mid table team next season, even if both Torres and Gerrard stay.  This is unless new owners come in fast and provide the necessary financial power to compete.