Liverpool Transfer News: Selling Lucas Would Be Major Mistake for Reds

Liverpool have been incredibly busy this summer, as manager Kenny Dalglish has been wheeling and dealing with the best of them during the transfer window. The Reds have addressed their talent deficiency in the midfield in a big way, grabbing Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing to bolster their talent pool.

The Reds also added goalkeeper Doni to bolster their depth in net, and have been looking long and hard at adding a number of young talents to bolster their youth program. Most recently, Dalglish has been scouring the market for a new left back to stabilize his defense, having been linked to Newcastle's Jose Enrique and Porto's Alvaro Pereira.

But in order to finance the moves Dalglish wants to make the rest of the way, he's going to have to sell off midfield talent. The Reds have an abundance of players, many of whom are unlikely to see the pitch this season at Anfield. Everyone from Raul Meireles to Alberto Aquilani are at risk of leaving, as Dalglish looks to finance his final moves of the summer. 

Most recently, reports from The Sun (h/t ESPN Star) hinted that the Reds were potentially dealing star midfielder Lucas Leiva, after the 24-year-old Brazilian expressed some disappointment about the club's decisions on who was staying in the midfield at Anfield. 

However, an ESPN Soccernet report indicated that the club wasn't dealing the talented midfield playmaker, as a Liverpool source told the club that the rumour was "rubbish."

Frankly, that's the attitude Anfield needs to take to dealing Lucas, because losing the talented Brazilian would be a tremendous mistake. 

I realize that things are incredibly crowded in Liverpool's midfield right now, and that there are going to be talented players who wind up being sold off. With Henderson, Adam, Gerrard and Lucas, as well as youngster Jay Spearing virtually assured of berths with the club (although Spearing could be bound for Wolves), that's a lot of talent to try and fit into just two or three midfield spots. 

The fact of the matter is, Lucas is an incredibly talented midfielder. He's one of the few balanced midfielders Dalglish has in the club as of now, capable of playing deeper in the midfield than most and starting counter attacks. His defense is incredibly polished, and he's capable of gaining possession then starting the attack quickly. 

Liverpool's midfield talent is decidedly offensively oriented at this stage. Only Henderson is a consistent defender (Gerrard isn't terrible), and at just 20 years old, he's still awfully raw. They need a player like Leiva to get things started, and without him, they really don't have all that much in terms of defense in the midfield. 

Even Steven Gerrard has admitted that the talented midfielder deserves to stay, and told reporters earlier this summer he thought that the 24-year-old was one of the club's best players last season.

The 24-year-old may not start much next season because of the logjam, but that doesn't make him unimportant to the cause. When he's in the lineup, Liverpool are a very different ball club. He provides versatility and depth in the roster, and gives them a dimension no one else on the roster provides. 

Liverpool could survive without him, to be sure, but why not keep him and make your midfield deeper and more versatile? It gives Dalglish a good number of potential midfield permutations, and makes them that much tougher to beat. 

In the end, I don't think the Reds have any plans to deal their talented midfielder, and it's a move that figures to pay off in a big way in their hunt for European competition next season.