Lucas Leiva: 'Gilberto Silva set the standard'

Liverpool's Lucas Leiva has revealed that former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva gave his fellow Brazilians hope that they could succeed in the Premier League.

Gilberto spent six years with the Gunners up until 2008 and collected one Premier League title and two FA Cup medals during his stint.

While many South Americans had failed to adapt to the English game prior to his arrival, Lucas believes that Gilberto showed it was possible to be effective.

"A few years ago we would only see defensive Brazilian players adapting here. Juninho at Middlesbrough was the exception, but I think it was actually Gilberto Silva who really confirmed that Brazilians could succeed in England," Lucas told FourFourTwo.

"Now we have lots of Brazilians, like Rafael, Fabio, Anderson, Sandro, Gomes, Julio Cesar, Ramires, David Luiz, Oscar. I think the mentality of Brazilians is also improving, in terms of adapting."

Lucas arrived at Liverpool in the summer of 2007 from Gremio.