Will you still need me
Will you still feed me
When I'm 34:
Gerrard pledges his loyalty to Liverpool
The soul-searching of summers past led Steven Gerrard to extol the virtues of love over money and, having banished the prospect of playing for Chelsea once and for all, the Liverpool captain has declared that he is prepared to make a lifetime commitment to the Merseyside club — just as long as they show him that his love for them is reciprocated.
It is not clear whether the “love” he is asking for relates to a desire to play in his favoured central midfield role, a warming of his working relationship with Rafael BenÍtez, the manager, or, as cynics might assume, an increase in his £100,000 weekly wage packet.
But, in an exclusive interview in today’s Times Magazine, the England midfield player leaves little doubt about his depth of feeling towards Liverpool, saying that he could no longer contemplate the idea of playing for another English club.
He did not entirely rule out the prospect of moving overseas, but clubs such as Barcelona — whom Liverpool face in the Champions League next Wednesday — and Real Madrid should not hold out too much hope of seeing him in Spain on a permanent basis unless, of course, he feels, as he did during a traumatic week in the summer of 2005, that the club are failing to show him the love he is demanding in return.
“No one knows what the future holds, but if the club continue to show me their love and I’m happy, I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else,” Gerrard, whose contract at Anfield runs until June 2009, said. “I’m really happy at the moment and if that continues, I’ll stay for ever. Obviously I’ve come close [to leaving] a couple of times, but at the moment these thoughts never cross my mind.
“When I signed a new deal [in July 2005] there was a lot of talk that there was a clause in the new contract saying that for a certain amount of money I might be able to leave in a couple of years’ time. It’s important to let the fans know that there’s no clause in the contract and that, as long as the club want me, and they show me they’re keen to keep me, I don’t see any reason to move anywhere else.”
That should be music to the ears of not only BenÍtez but also the club’s new owners, George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks. Gerrard was surprised to be visited by the two American sports tycoons at the England team hotel last week, the night before they attended a press conference at Anfield to unveil their plans for the club, and he was excited by what they had to say.
“I’m delighted,” he said. “I’ve met the guys and I think it’s going to be very positive for the club.” Gillett and Hicks have bought a club — or at least 62 per cent of it for now — whose roll of honour is unrivalled in English football and it is this tradition of success, almost as much as the promise of future glories, that has led Gerrard to conclude that he would have been wrong to join a club such as Chelsea, who, in the words of one Kop anthem, “ain’t got no history”.
“If I weren’t a player I’d probably share the exact same views as all the Kopites,” Gerrard said. “Just because you have got all that money doesn’t make you a big club. You’ve got to earn the right to be a big club, win a load, have the history there. I didn’t ever say I would only go to Chelsea if I was leaving. If it ever came to it that I did have to move, I’d be more comfortable playing in a different country. I’d find it really strange and awkward coming back and playing against the club I’ve been at since I was 8.”
Will you still feed me
When I'm 34:
Gerrard pledges his loyalty to Liverpool
The soul-searching of summers past led Steven Gerrard to extol the virtues of love over money and, having banished the prospect of playing for Chelsea once and for all, the Liverpool captain has declared that he is prepared to make a lifetime commitment to the Merseyside club — just as long as they show him that his love for them is reciprocated.
It is not clear whether the “love” he is asking for relates to a desire to play in his favoured central midfield role, a warming of his working relationship with Rafael BenÍtez, the manager, or, as cynics might assume, an increase in his £100,000 weekly wage packet.
But, in an exclusive interview in today’s Times Magazine, the England midfield player leaves little doubt about his depth of feeling towards Liverpool, saying that he could no longer contemplate the idea of playing for another English club.
He did not entirely rule out the prospect of moving overseas, but clubs such as Barcelona — whom Liverpool face in the Champions League next Wednesday — and Real Madrid should not hold out too much hope of seeing him in Spain on a permanent basis unless, of course, he feels, as he did during a traumatic week in the summer of 2005, that the club are failing to show him the love he is demanding in return.
“No one knows what the future holds, but if the club continue to show me their love and I’m happy, I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else,” Gerrard, whose contract at Anfield runs until June 2009, said. “I’m really happy at the moment and if that continues, I’ll stay for ever. Obviously I’ve come close [to leaving] a couple of times, but at the moment these thoughts never cross my mind.
“When I signed a new deal [in July 2005] there was a lot of talk that there was a clause in the new contract saying that for a certain amount of money I might be able to leave in a couple of years’ time. It’s important to let the fans know that there’s no clause in the contract and that, as long as the club want me, and they show me they’re keen to keep me, I don’t see any reason to move anywhere else.”
That should be music to the ears of not only BenÍtez but also the club’s new owners, George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks. Gerrard was surprised to be visited by the two American sports tycoons at the England team hotel last week, the night before they attended a press conference at Anfield to unveil their plans for the club, and he was excited by what they had to say.
“I’m delighted,” he said. “I’ve met the guys and I think it’s going to be very positive for the club.” Gillett and Hicks have bought a club — or at least 62 per cent of it for now — whose roll of honour is unrivalled in English football and it is this tradition of success, almost as much as the promise of future glories, that has led Gerrard to conclude that he would have been wrong to join a club such as Chelsea, who, in the words of one Kop anthem, “ain’t got no history”.
“If I weren’t a player I’d probably share the exact same views as all the Kopites,” Gerrard said. “Just because you have got all that money doesn’t make you a big club. You’ve got to earn the right to be a big club, win a load, have the history there. I didn’t ever say I would only go to Chelsea if I was leaving. If it ever came to it that I did have to move, I’d be more comfortable playing in a different country. I’d find it really strange and awkward coming back and playing against the club I’ve been at since I was 8.”
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