Fabio Aurelio was delighted seeing fellow Brazilian Lucas Leiva establish himself as a first-choice at Liverpool last season.
Aurelio has been impressed with Lucas's development since he arrived on Merseyside from Gremio in 2007 - and he's tipping the 24-year-old to continue to flourish.
"Everyone can see how different he is now from when he first arrived in England," Aurelio told LFC Weekly. "He is much more mature, stronger physically and knows more about how to win games.
"I think there was a great impact to move from Brazil to England because there is a very different style of football and also he was very young when he arrived here. So together with the big changes it was very difficult for him in the beginning and the pressure was there as well.
"I think he has shown great personality and capability to change things around. We remember that at the beginning the fans were not very happy with him but he was patient and remained concentrated on his work and now we can see that he is a man who can do the job.
"He deservedly has a new contract with the club and we hope that he can spend a lot of years here in Liverpool because he can be a great player for us, just like he was last season."
