The midfielder has been sidelined since picking up a knee ligament injury in January but is determined to force his way back into the Selecao squad

Liverpool ace Lucas Leiva is hoping to end the Premier League season on a high to boost his hopes of representing Brazil at the World Cup.

The midfielder has been featured for the Reds’ first team since sustaining a knee ligament injury in the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at Anfield in January.

However, Lucas played 90 minutes for Liverpool Under-21s last Friday and the 27-year-old is now looking to help Brendan Rodgers’ side claim a top-four finish in the Premier League as he bids to be part of the hosts’ World Cup squad.

“I was lucky that I wasn’t out for a long time and I’m now looking forward to first-team action,” Lucas told this club’s official website.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to help the team again for the next 10 games because we know how important they are.

“It’s a massive two months for me especially looking towards the World Cup at the end of the season as well, so I can’t afford to miss many more games.

“I knew the injury wasn’t too bad. I knew something happened but of course I was disappointed I wouldn’t be able to make the last international game [against South Africa].

“When you are out of the international team and squad there is always someone else who will have a chance to impress, the competition for places in the Brazil squad is so big, so that’s why I’m really confident that if I have a good two months ahead then I will have a chance to play at the World Cup.

“That would be like a dream for me – playing for my country in Brazil. It’s going to be massive, but as I said, what I do for Liverpool is what’s going to get me in the Brazil squad, so I’ve just got to concentrate on the next 10 games and hopefully help Liverpool to do good things until the end of the season.”

Ronaldo, Messi and Rooney earn lavish salaries beyond the wildest dreams of most players and fans – Goal debates the vast financial gulf between the elite and the rest

Cristiano Ronaldo topped the Goal Rich List 2014 with an astonishing estimated wealth of €148 million and, as our index showed, players at the very top of the game are earning increasingly big rewards.

As well as rocketing wages and bonuses, luxurious sponsorship and endorsement deals are ensuring the game’s highest-profile stars are seeing their net worth continue on an upward curve.

But, for the majority of footballers, signing professional terms does not guarantee a Hollywood lifestyle. Indeed, the experience of many players is quite the opposite to Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and the others in our top 10.

Following Peter Staunton’s special report looking at those players who struggle with life during and after their professional careers, Goal asks – is the modern day footballer is paid too much?

In an exclusive video debate, Peter Staunton is joined by Nat Coombs and former Premier League striker Dean Holdsworth, who now serves as managing director of XPRO, the charity which helps footballers who are going through hard times.

Do you think footballers are paid too much? Have your say in the comments box below.

The striker does not believe that players are overpaid and argued salaries are justifiable as they only earn as much as athletes in other sports

Former England striker Michael Owen has argued that footballers’ wages are deserved due to the interest shown in the sport.

Goal’s Rich List revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo, who has earned a staggering €148 million, is the richest footballer in the world, while Lionel Messi (€146m) and Samuel Eto’o (€85m) are second and third respectively.

Salaries have continued to soar over the last few years and Wayne Rooney’s recently renewed £300,000 weekly deal with Manchester United has seen the issue thrown under the spotlight once again.

While many believe that there should be a cap on wages, Owen believes the money given to footballers can be justified.

“Despite many of these issues being extremely important, I can’t help but think the current hysteria surrounding footballers reported wage packets is over-hyped and unnecessary,” Owen wrote in his blog on Sportlobster.

“If you have a skill, which people are prepared to part with their hard-earned cash in order to watch, those with the skill will always command high salaries.

“Nobody complains if pop stars sell out a stadium and rake in millions from a tour. Nobody complains about the reported weekly salaries, according to Forbes, of sportsmen such as Kobe Bryant (£700k), Roger Federer (£800k), Phil Mickelson (£480k) and Usain Bolt (£290k).

“What is so different to a footballer earning similar amounts for being at the top of their own particular sport?

“I often hear the football fan’s mantra of ‘I’m paying his wages’ when a footballer is having a bad day and yet fans don’t feel the same way at all when watching Tiger Woods or Roger Federer play a poor match.

“Of course, there is an argument for saying all sports stars’ wages are ridiculously high in comparison to people’s salaries in regular jobs…but how is this specifically a footballer’s fault?

“It is all too easy to bang out the same old cliches whenever the talk turns to a footballer’s wages. The fact is we are fortunate to live in a free world, where market forces dictate cost and, as such, I really don’t think footballers’ wages are in any way out of sync with the rest of the sporting world.

“As long as there are children in virtually every country around the world aspiring to be the next Ronaldo, Messi or Rooney and media companies vying for the rights to football at the highest level, I just don’t see things changing.”