Jamie Carragher has been speaking on some of the intense interest that Steven Gerrard attracted during his time at Liverpool, especially in the early to mid 2000s where he was widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world.
Although Liverpool will always be a revered club, the Reds were not consistently competing for the Premier League title during this time period and were certainly not at the top of the football pyramid like they are now.
This made Gerrard a prime target for elite clubs seeking to strengthen their squads with his leadership and talents.
In 2004-2005, Chelsea, under the leadership of José Mourinho, aggressively pursued Gerrard.
At the time, Chelsea was dominating English football, having won the Premier League in 2005
Mourinho saw Gerrard as a crucial piece for his team, offering a significant transfer fee and making multiple attempts to lure the Liverpool captain to Stamford Bridge.
It goes to show that although the legendary Portuguese manager had Frank Lampard in his side, he still wanted Gerrard.
Gerrard even handed in a transfer request in 2005, frustrated by the club’s direction and the perceived lack of competitiveness.
Despite this, Liverpool managed to convince him to stay, offering a new contract shortly after their dramatic Champions League victory in Istanbul that same year.
What did Jamie Carragher say about Steven Gerrard?
Speaking on the Blood Red podcast, the Liverpool legend was comparing Trent Alexander-Arnold’s contract situation with Gerrard – and postulating whether the Liverpool vice-captain would think differently as a local player.
“It will be interesting if Trent Alexander-Arnold sees his situation as a local player the way I did – which was ‘I wanna play for Liverpool my whole life,” Carragher said.
“Stevie obviously, because he was getting courted by Real Madrid – obviously we know the Chelsea stuff… but Real Madrid came for him every summer.”
“I don’t think he was ever close to going to be honest, but Trent I’m sure will have that [advances from Real Madrid].”
“But it’s about what you want… we as fans expect a little bit more from local players in terms of staying at the club or moving on.”
Madrid, as one of the most powerful clubs globally, wanted Gerrard to join their Galácticos project. Mourinho himself admitted to trying to sign Gerrard multiple times throughout his career, both at Chelsea and later at Real Madrid.
However, despite the appeal of playing for such a prestigious club, Gerrard’s deep-rooted loyalty to Liverpool prevented him from making the move.
He revealed that Madrid had even encouraged him to “kick up a war” to force a transfer , but Gerrard refused to go that route, stating that his love for Liverpool outweighed the allure of Madrid.
And of course, we can never forget what Zinedine Zidane said when he was still at Real Madrid either:
“In his prime, Gerrard was the best in the world. I think it was in the summer of 2004 when I had a conversation with Florentino (Pérez) & told him that I wanted him to be my partner in Madrid’s midfield.”
“I know the club tried twice, but he didn’t want to leave Liverpool. There aren’t many players who reject Real Madrid, but I think that says a lot about the person’s loyalty.”
