England

James White

Last year there were many new faces turning up for the first day of training at Melwood (Liverpool FC’s training ground) with more to follow them. The two big signings capturing the imagination of every Liverpool fan across the world not least me, were those of Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel.

Torres arrived with a big reputation as one of the brightest talents in Europe. Captain of his home town club Atletico Madrid, and those who didn’t know too much about him at the time certainly will now! After a blistering first season the Spanish forward has established himself as a firm, fan favourite after scoring over 30 goals in his debut season, a season in which he was also awarded club player of the season. An award usually reserved in recent years for captain Steven Gerrard. El Nino (the kid) as he is affectionately known eclipsed all expectations in his new home, setting a record for goals scored by a foreign player in their debut season in England. Torres capped off his impressive season with the only goal in the European Championship final.

Ryan Babel also arrived with big expectations, on the back of winning the European Youth Championships with Holland. The flying Dutchman stood out as one of the players of the tournament. I remember sitting in the pub watching the tournament and saying to my friend “how good is that kid?” as he took the final by storm. Well rounded performances accompanied with blistering pace and confidence running with the ball led to him being linked to many of Europe’s top clubs, with Arsene Wenger’s famous youth policy putting Arsenal as firm favourites to sign the young striker.

However it was Liverpool that emerged as winners in the race to acquire his signature from Dutch club Ajax. Babel spent most of his debut season deployed on the left wing, and despite being right footed he gave fans glimpses of what they can look forward to seeing. If he can now go on to perform on a more consistent basis the Anfield outfit could have a real star on their hands.

Amidst the storm of media frenzy that surrounded these two players there was another new signing that arrived at the club virtually unnoticed. Whilst being pursued by many of Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona, Manchester United and both Milan clubs, at the tender age of 20, Lucas Pezzini Levia was signed from Brazilian team Germio. Due to the player being relatively unknown in Europe and still so young he was seen by many fans as a “player for the future” as it was assumed he would be well behind fellow central midfielders Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso and Sissoko in the pecking order.

Despite the competition for places in the starting eleven, the Brazilian playmaker earned himself many first team games thanks to great performances both in training and for Liverpool’s young reserve team. His consistency and level of performances are considered one of the main reasons Rafa Benitez felt he could sell Sissoko (previously a mainstay of the squad) and still have enough cover in the centre of the park. The Spanish manager was proved right, not least by two very capable performances against Inter Milan in the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

The energetic midfielder became the first Brazilian to score for Liverpool with a 25-yard screamer against Havant and Waterlooville in the FA Cup. Yet there is still very little known about the youngster who is now a regular in match day squads either as a substitute or in the starting lineup. Due to injuries the player also volunteered to play for the reserves in the national championship final scoring the last goal to cap an impressive display as Liverpool’s young reserve team ran out deserved 3-0 winners against a very experienced Aston Villa team.

Known simply as Lucas in his native Brazil, Germio promoted the youngster into their first team squad with the player making his debut in October 2005 where he quickly became a regular in the promotion winning side. After surviving a massive cull of playing staff, Lucas improved on an impressive debut season to help his side finish third in their first season back in top flight football.

Thanks to his pace and strength Lucas established himself as a goalscoring midfielder, scoring with both long range efforts and with surging runs past defenders. His performances in his second season earned him the Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball) an award given to the best player in the Brazilian top flight. Lucas is the youngest player to be given the prestigious award that has previously been given to South American greats, including Romario, Zico and more recently Kaka and Tevez.

The former Brazil U-20 captain also managed to force himself into the national first team as well as helping Germio to the final of the Copa Libertadores. He made his debut for the national team in an unofficial friendly against Al-Kuwait in October 2006, unfortunately he had to wait a further 10 months to get his first international cap against Algeria as FIFA refused to acknowledge the previous game as an official international. The progress made in his first year in English football has got many Liverpool fans talking about “this talented kid in midfield” but very few understand just how successful he has already been in his very short career.

As with every young player only time tells just how successful they will be, however the early evidence is that Benitez has found a true star of the future. Heralded in some quarters as the “Brazilian Gerrard”, the versatile player has a long way to go before he is in the same class as his team-mate but there is enough evidence to suggest he may one day get there.

The fact the player has been brought in and so far allowed to develop pretty much free of media intrusion is something the player and his manager will be very pleased about, as hype can be one of the biggest problems a young player can face.

No-one knows where the player’s career will be in five years time. If he continues to develop the way he has and builds on his first season with the Reds I have no doubt he will soon be a household name across Europe and not just a Liverpool fans’ “one for the future”. I expect great things from this player in the upcoming season which is why I see him as my “one to watch” in the upcoming Beijing Olympics. 

African Cup of Nations replica ball