Liverpool hero Gerrard tells Arsenal transfer target Luis Suarez not to quit Anfield yet
Liverpool hero Gerrard tells Arsenal transfer target Luis Suarez not to quit Anfield yet
"I had a chance to move to a Champions League club last
year. He'll get many more chances to move - he should wait for the big
ones to come"
Feel the love: Gerrard wants at least another season alongside Suarez
Reuters
Steven Gerrard has urged Liverpool team-mate and friend Luis Suarez
to follow his own example - by chasing his Champions League dream
wisely.
Ultimate one-club-man - and ultimate professional -
Gerrard has revealed some surprise news on the eve of his testimonial:
The latest offer to tempt him away from Anfield arrived less than a year ago.
Yet
the bid - from a Bayern Munich side that would go on to win the
European Cup, with Real Madrid also maintaining a keen interest - was
met with the same response the Reds'
skipper offered to the countless other attempts to prise him from his
beloved Liverpool home, where he has played his entire, dazzling 15-year
career.
And it is this example he has offered as evidence to Arsenal target Suarez, to persuade his team-mate there is simply no need to rush out of Merseyside in a desperate search for instant Champions League gratification.
Gerrard
said: “I had a chance to move to a Champions League club last year, but
there was no temptation. I have been through that enough before - and
that is the message for Luis.
“He will get many more chances to
move on, if that’s what he wants to do further down the line. I just
think a player of his level and quality should wait for the big ones to
come.
“Luis deserves to maybe play in one of the best teams in
world football in Barcelona and Madrid and they will come calling for
him again.
“So I am hoping, from a biased point of view, that he
stays for another year and shows the form he did last year... which
could help take Liverpool to that level.
“Then, maybe, it will be
time for him to go next year or the year after. But I really don’t think
it is the right time for him to go just yet.”
A grinning Gerrard declined to reveal which team made the offer to him last year.
But
it was no secret Jose Mourinho was desperate to take him to the
Bernabeu, and Bayern tried an official approach of their own. It could've been me: Gerrard had a chance to join Bayern for last season
Reuters
To have perhaps the two biggest clubs in the world right now
show interest in you at the age of 32 shows both the enduring quality of
the player, and the power of his message to Suarez.
The South
American would love a move to Real, but so far only Arsenal have made an
offer, with the second of two bids passing the £40m mark by one pound.
There
are strong indications the Gunners will return next week with an offer
significantly closer to Liverpool’s £55m valuation, but Gerrard remains
adamant that unless one of the top clubs in the world come knocking,
Liverpool have to stick to their guns as proof they retain their own
Champions League ambitions.
The fear at Anfield in recent years is
that the Reds are facing an ever harder task to bridge the gap to the
very top clubs - a challenge that could one day become impossible.
Gerrard said: “That is my main worry, yes, and I think the main worry of every fan.
“It is no different for me being a player. The only thing that may be different is I can do something about it on the pitch.
“That’s
why Liverpool have to do everything they can to keep their best
players. Can you imagine the reaction if the club just said to Luis,
‘Okay. Go to whoever you want. Go to one of our rivals’ and we give in
easy?
“I think the club are doing the right thing by wanting to
keep their best players. I am sure all genuine Liverpool fans have the
same worries and concerns that it becomes permanent and we can’t bridge
that gap.
“But we have to keep fighting and believe, and I have
confidence from the last six months of last season that we can prove
people wrong and break into it.
“I think certain things have to happen to help us do that and one of those is the main subject on everyone’s lips - Luis Suarez.
“You
lose him you take steps backwards to try to achieve top four. If you
keep him and add to him it gives you an awful lot better chance.”
Gerrard of course, has resisted the urge to seek more instant gratification elsewhere.
His
testimonial game against Olympiacos - the side he scored THAT Champions
League against in 2004 - on Saturday proves his loyalty after 15 years
of service and his support for the local community, given that
proceeds of around £1m will go to children in the area via his
charitable foundation.
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