Liverpool favourite Lucas Leiva recalls ‘amazing’ Hong Kong debut, reveals ‘respect’ for Asian fans, and hails Klopp
- Lucas Leiva is 48th in the list of all-time Liverpool appearance makers, after playing 346 matches between 2007 and 2017
- Merseyside club continue four-pronged fight for silverware with Manchester United FA Cup clash on Sunday
Former Liverpool favourite Lucas Leiva said his Reds debut in Hong Kong opened his eyes to the size of the club he had joined from Gremio in Brazil.
Midfielder Lucas spent 10 years with the Premier League side, and is in the English team’s top-50 all-time appearance makers, after playing 346 matches, before transferring to Lazio in 2017.
He is currently in mainland city Guangzhou for the first leg of a LFC Experience event, which will visit Hong Kong later this year, and said he would always consider the region a “special place”.
The Brazilian flew to Hong Kong directly after completing his Liverpool move in summer 2007, linking up with new teammates, including the celebrated trio of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, and Xabi Alonso, who were already in the city for the Premier League Asia Trophy.
Liverpool came back in 2017, and the club’s commercial director, Ben Latty, estimates they have 50 million supporters across mainland China and Hong Kong.
Latty said the club were “not ruling out” a return for the first team, with “Hong Kong a vital region for us”.