Liverpool

Lucas Leiva: 'Liverpool will recover from Raheem Sterling departure'

By Callum Mulvihill, Reporter | 15 July 2015

Lucas Leiva insists that Raheem Sterling's move to Manchester City will not have the same impact on Liverpool as Luis Suarez's exit last summer.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva has claimed that the club will find a way to recover from the loss of Raheem Sterling.

Manchester City confirmed the signing of Sterling on Tuesday for a fee believed to be in the region of £49m.

It comes just a year after Liverpool sold Luis Suarez to Barcelona, but Lucas does not believe that Sterling's departure will have a similar impact on the squad.

"I think we can live with losing Raheem easier than we did when Suarez left," the Brazilian midfielder told The Mirror. "Suarez scored 30 plus goals for us. So I think it would be unfair to put Raheem in the same bracket. He is a young player, only 20 and has to develop.

"Of course, he was very important for us for two seasons. But Suarez is one of the best players in the world at this moment in time and he showed that with us.

"Raheem is probably one of the best young players around, but there is a gap between him and Luis. Now he has decided to move on and, as a club, things happen but the club feel that they got a good deal."

Liverpool continued their preparations for the new season with a 4-0 victory over Thailand on Tuesday.