Former Liverpool player Lucas Leiva announced his retirement from football at the age of 36 due to a heart condition.
The problem was discovered during a test with the Brazilian defensive midfielder’s boyhood club Gremio, for whom he re-signed in the summer.
Lewa was signed by Liverpool from Gremio for £5m in 2007 and made 346 appearances in 10 seasons at Anfield.
“I can only be grateful for the career I have built,” Leva said on social media.
“The day has come to bid farewell to the field. I confess it has come from great powers.”
Leiva added in a tearful news conference: “I’m finishing where I want, the way I want. I was so hopeful it would turn around, but it didn’t. My health comes first. Is. “
He initially struggled to break into Liverpool’s midfield, but became a regular starter after the departures of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano.
Leiva won a League Cup winner’s medal in 2012, despite missing the final with injury, and was an unused substitute in the 2016 Europa League final, which Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Sevilla 3–1. lost to
His 247 Premier League appearances for Liverpool are the fourth most in the Brazilian’s history of the competition.
Leiva signed a £5m deal for Lazio in 2017 and went on to win the Coppa Italia with the Serie A club. He also earned 24 caps for Brazil.
