Lucas Leiva: 'Lazar Markovic will be a key player for Liverpool'

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva believes that Lazar Markovic will establish himself as a key player for the Reds.

The £20m youngster initially struggled to make an impact at following his move from Benfica in the summer, but the winger has started to catch the eye with a number of impressive performances over the last few weeks.

Lucas feels that the 20-year-old will only improve the more that he adjusts to life at the club.

The Brazilian told the club's official website: "There's no doubt he's a very young player and people usually judge players after one or two months.

"We know that the Premier League is a hard league to come and play in straight away, so [Markovic is] just improving all the time and he showed again [against Sunderland] that he could be very important for the future of the club."

Markovic scored the winning goal as the Reds beat Sunderland 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.