"Lucas is a young player with great experience because he has played at international level for Brazil many times. We have known about him for a long time and had to move quickly to sign him because many top clubs were interested," said the Spaniard.
"He will need to improve his English but other than that he's settled down quickly. I was away in Switzerland for the first ten days he was at the club but all the reports I received were good and he's done well in training over here.
"Lucas is not a typical Brazilian player but he's a clever player who wants the ball all the time, which is important. He will need time but I think we've signed a really excellent prospect.
"He's a player with character who works hard, can play in the holding midfield role and also get in the box to score goals. His mentality is a winning one and that's what we want here; a team of winners.
"He's one for the future but also one for this year. I've explained that he'll face tough competition for his place but that is good for us. If you want to win trophies, and by that I mean more than one a season, you have to have a bigger squad."