Leiva leaves Liverpool after 10 years to start Lazio adventure

Lucas Leiva's decade-long association with Liverpool has come to an end.

The 30-year-old midfielder completed a reported £5-million move to Lazio on Tuesday after making 346 appearances for the Reds.

Liverpool managed to sell him for around the same price it paid to acquire him from Gremio in 2007.

He was the club's longest-serving player.

Supporters of the Merseyside outfit held Leiva in the highest esteem, and the club celebrated his 10 years with the club at an anniversary dinner in April.

However, playing time became sparse at Anfield. Even though manager Jurgen Klopp tried to find space for Leiva - who deputised in the centre of defence - the Brazilian only managed to make 12 Premier League starts last season.

He explained his decision to leave in an open letter on Liverpool's website:

This is one of the greatest clubs in the world and my intention had always been to spend the rest of my career here, but the less I have been able to play, the more I have realised that I need to go to another club if I want to play as much as I possibly can.

When you love a club and a city as much as I love Liverpool, that isn't an easy decision to come to. The easiest thing for me to do would be to stay here as long as I can, even if I do not expect to play so often, but that would go against everything that I believe in as a footballer and as a competitor.

It is for that reason that I will be joining Lazio, which means my sadness at Liverpool is accompanied by a real excitement that I will be representing one of Italy's greatest clubs.

Lazio worked quickly to replace Lucas Biglia, who jumped ship to join AC Milan's summer revolution last Sunday. The Biancocelesti found in Leiva a player with the same tough-tackling spirit.

During his time in Liverpool, Leiva scored seven goals and won the League Cup in 2012. But he missed that final at Wembley due to a cruciate ligament injury.