Liverpool cult hero Lucas Leiva rejoins his boyhood club Gremio on a free transfer from Lazio

Former Liverpool fan favourite Lucas Leiva has rejoined his boyhood club Gremio on a free transfer at the age of 35.

Gremio are a second tier outfit playing in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and his move, unveiled by the club, will be quite a change for the defensive midfielder after leaving his last club Lazio.

Leiva played for Gremio between 2005 and 2007, as the club rose into Serie A, before making the move to Merseyside aged 20, where he became Liverpool’s player of the year for the 2010-11 season. 

After 10 years at Anfield, where he won the 2012 League Cup, he moved to Lazio and played in Rome until the expiry of his contract this summer.

Leiva spent a decade at Anfield, earning their coveted Player of the Year award in 2010-11

Leiva admitted that he had to put aside his pride to sign a one-and-a-half year deal for Gremio, despite their relegation from the top flight last year.

Upon his unveiling by the club, as reported by This Is Anfield, Leiva told reporters: ‘Gremio for me was the beginning of the dream.

‘In football, sometimes we plan and it doesn’t work out, but the time to come back has arrived.

‘For me, it doesn’t matter where Gremio is, what matters is having the opportunity to represent this team that means so much to me.

‘The club made an effort to bring me and I made an effort to return, the most important thing is to put vanities and ego aside for a single objective, which is to return to Serie A.’

Leiva spoke on Instagram of his ‘return home’ a decade and a half after leaving for Anfield

Gremio play in strips that fuse blue, black, and white, hence the nickname ‘Tricolor’ which the club and its supporters use.  

On Instagram, he said: ‘Tricolor fans, I came back 15 years later to help the club and the group of players. Time to unite even more to achieve this access to the elite of Brazilian football.’ 

Gremio vice-president of football Denis Abrahao said Leiva had ‘better proposals’ elsewhere

Gremio vice-president of football Denis Abrahao hinted that Leiva had received ‘better proposals’ from other unnamed clubs, but the Brazilian international was keen to return to the place where his career started.

In a nice touch, he will wear the No 15 shirt for the club, the same number he wore in his first professional season 17 years ago.

The Brazilian transfer window opens on July 18, when he would be available to feature for Gremio again.

The team currently sit in fourth place in Serie B, which would be good enough to see them bounce back to the top flight at the first attempt.