Lazio midfielder Lucas Leiva says he'll always be grateful for his time with Liverpool.

Lucas left the Reds last summer - and feels it was the right time.

He told Globoesporte: "This first season with Lazio is very positive: in my first official game, I was the protagonist in the Italian Super Cup, it's a good year for me, so I hope to continue like this until the end of the season.

"It was the right time to leave Liverpool, especially for the time I spent there, I left through the front door, it's a club that I'll be forever grateful for, but it was time for a new challenge.

"Rome is very similar to Brazil. Italy, in general it is ... Some things, I confess, were unknown to me from the beginning, because I spent a third of my life in England. Culture, organization ... Everything is different, but it is a wonderful city, an exceptional climate."