Lucas Leiva has backed his young compatriot, Philippe Coutinho, to succeed at Liverpool.

Coutinho joined his fellow Brazil international Leiva at Anfield from Inter Milan a few days before the close of the January transfer window, in a deal believed to be worth £8.5 million.

Coutinho arrived at the San Siro with a big reputation, but failed to cement his place with Inter.

He excelled on loan last season in Spain at Espanyol, to the extent that the La Liga club’s fans were devastated to see him go.

And Lucas is sure that Coutinho- who he describes as a “real Brazilian” will quickly have Reds fans eating from the palm of his hand.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers thinks Coutinho is a “wonderful talent”, and Lucas has revealed how he encouraged his manager to sign the highly-rated 20-year-old.

"The manager spoke with me, not asking me about his talent, because he was sure about his talent, it was just about how he was as a person," Lucas said.

"I spoke to him (Coutinho) a few times - not trying to convince him to sign, just telling him about the club, how things work here.

"He just felt it was a great opportunity for him to come to the Premier League and we are happy to have him here. Coutinho is a very talented player, with a lot of experience for someone so young. He is a proper Brazilian with a lot of skill. He likes to play with the ball.

"He had a very good spell with Espanyol and I think he will be a great player in the future for us."

"In Italy, it is a different game, but he has experience in La Liga as well," Lucas continued.

"But I think he will be able to cope - I just hope he settles very quickly.

"We have Luis (Suarez) and (Sebastian) Coates, and myself, so we will all try to make him feel really comfortable and help. He is a young lad so we just need to make sure he settles very quickly, like Luis and Coates have, then he will be able to feel comfortable, show his qualities and start to play really well."