Ranking the 9 Brazilians to play for Liverpool in the Premier League era | OneFootball

Liverpool have a decent track record when it comes to investing in Brazilian players but it’s fair to say that some of these turned out better than others.

Anfield has had a surge in players coming over from South America in recent years and in particular from Brazil. Plenty of their Brazilian stars have gone on to become cult heroes at the club.

We’ve gone through the archives and ranked Liverpool’s nine Brazilian players from worst to best.

9. Doni

Brazilian goalkeeper Doni didn’t have the best of times at Anfield. He signed for the club in 2011 on a free transfer and was brought to the club with the intention of being back up to Pepe Reina.

Eventually, he did get his chance in the side when Reina was serving a suspension and things didn’t exactly go to plan. He was sent off in his second game for the club after giving away a penalty against Blackburn Rovers.

He left the Reds in 2013 and later revealed that he had suffered a heart attack during a routine medical in the summer of 2012.

“I almost ended up on the other side. I had a heart attack for about 25 seconds,” Doni told CalcioMercato in 2013. “I always had an arrhythmia and during some tests in Liverpool suffered a cardiac arrest. I’ve been to one of the best doctors in Europe who looked at me carefully.”

8. Arthur Melo

Arthur perhaps stands a chance of being bumped up a few places in the list if he manages to actually get on the pitch for Liverpool in the second half of the season.

In what looked like a panic buy on deadline day, Liverpool signed the midfielder on loan for the season from Juventus. He’s struggled for fitness since joining and has played a total of 13 minutes for the Reds.

7. Diego Cavalieri

Cavalieri joined Liverpool in the summer of 2008 for a fee believed to be in the region of £3million. He took the number one jersey at the club which was last worn by Jerzy Dudek.

The Brazilian goalkeeper never made a league appearance for Liverpool but did make 10 appearances in cup competitions throughout his two-year spell with the club.

6. Fabio Aurelio

Rafael Benitez signed Aurelio for Liverpool after the pair had worked together at Valencia. The Brazilian was part of Benitez’s two-time La Liga-winning outfit in the early 2000s.

He spent a total of six years at Anfield but struggled with injuries throughout his time with the club. He’ll always be fondly remembered for the free-kick he scored against Manchester United though.

5. Philippe Coutinho

Coutinho cost Liverpool a mere £8.5million back in 2013 from Inter Milan. The Brazilian playmaker soon became an integral part of their team scoring 54 goals across 201 appearances.

It became clear in 2017 that he had his heart set on a move to Barcelona, which then had huge ripple effects for both him and the club.

Liverpool managed to cash in on him for £142million in January 2018 and they then used that money to sign Virgil van Dijk and Allison.

4. Lucas Leiva

Lucas played a key role for Liverpool and racked up 346 appearances for the club across a 10-year spell.

While his spell at the club didn’t coincide with great success, he will always be remembered fondly at Anfield. He quickly won the fans over after winning the club’s Player of the Year award in 2010-11.

These days he’s playing in Brazil for Gremio after spending five years with Lazio.

3. Fabinho

Fabinho has gone from strength to strength since joining Liverpool from Monaco in 2018. During his four year stint so far he has won five trophies including the Premier League and Champions League.

He’s played with some top players over the years too.

2. Roberto Firmino

Firmino joined Liverpool in 2015, but he did take some time to settle in. Once Jurgen Klopp arrived he soon perfected the perfect role for the Brazilian forward.

He soon became the perfect embodiment of Klopp’s football and has managed to combine his eye for goal with outrageous skill and a remarkable work rate.

While Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane grabbed plenty of headlines throughout their time together, it was Firmino who glued everything together.

1. Alisson

It’s hard to argue against Alisson being Liverpool’s greatest-ever Brazilian given the immediate impact he has had at the club since joining in 2018.

Klopp believes he’s the best in the world and it’s hard to argue with that, “I see them in decisive moments and the development is absolutely top class but Alisson Becker is the best goalkeeper in the world for me,” he explained in February via Liverpool Echo.

“There are top goalies out there but this keeper (Alisson) is insane.”