FABIO AURELIO has hailed the improvement made by countryman Lucas Leiva and says the Brazilian has emerged as one of Liverpool’s most important players.

The midfielder enjoyed a fine campaign, being named fans’ Player of the Year at Anfield. Having taken time to settle on Merseyside, Lucas has grown in stature following the departures of the likes of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano. He featured in every league game following Kenny Dalglish’s arrival as manager in January.

And Aurelio believes his compatriot has shown huge strength of character to win over supporters, many of whom were initially critical of the former Gremio man’s talents.

“Everyone can see how different he is now from when he first arrived in England,” said Aurelio.

“He is much more mature, stronger physically and knows more about how to win games.

“He has shown great personality and capability to change things around. We remember that at the beginning the fans were not very happy with him but he was patient and remained concentrated on his work and now we can see that he is a man who can do the job.”

Aurelio believes Lucas suffered from the demands placed upon young South Americans when they move to big European clubs. He was just 20 when he arrived at Anfield in a £6m deal back in 2007, and Aurelio feels that it took some time for his team-mate to adapt to a new style of play, and way of living.

“I think there was a great impact to move from Brazil to England because there is a very different style of football and also he was very young when he arrived here,” he said.

“So together with the big changes it was difficult for him in the beginning and the pressure was there as well.”