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Gerrard Deal Becomes Urgent As CL Campaign Looms
6/11/2005 5:24:00 AM

Liverpool are expected to fast-track negotiations over Steven Gerrard's future with a view to securing their captain’s signature on a new contract before their next Champions League campaign kicks-off in mid-July.
If Gerrard has not signed the £100,000-a-week two-year contract extension by the time Liverpool play their European opener on July 12 or 13, they could face a repeat of last season’s embarrassing Michael Owen saga.

Owen was sitting on the bench throughout Liverpool’s opening third qualifying round CL match against Graz in Austria last August because, if he had set foot on the pitch, it would have sabotaged his impending transfer to Real Madrid. Owen would have been cup-tied for European competition and thus substantially less valuable to Real (or any other prospective buyer involved in the Champions League).

Gerrard told Liverpool that he would sign a new deal after they won the European Cup so dramatically in Istanbul last month, but chief executive Rick Parry has only just returned from holiday, Rafael Benitez is in Madrid, Gerrard is away, and his agent Struan Marshall is on honeymoon, with negotiations not due until pre-season training begins on June 27. Once they resume, those negotiations will now have to be successfully concluded fairly quickly.

Gerrard’s contract had not been considered too urgent a problem until Friday, when UEFA gave the go ahead for the Reds to defend their title by entering next season’s competition at the first qualifying round stage, even though they finished fifth in the Premiership last season.

Former Liverpool assistant manager Phil Thompson said of the Gerrard situation: "I would like to think he has already made up his mind, he said as much after Istanbul.

"I spoke to him the day after and he was in ’la-la land’.

"To be able to lift the trophy as a Liverpool fan was beyond his wildest dreams and I believe he has already made his decision to stay."

Another former Anfield hero, Alan Kennedy, told Sporting Life: "Steven will want to play in every game possible.

"If there is a big enough squad you should be able to rotate and that may well be the case for Liverpool this coming season.

"It is a massive incentive now for Steven to stay.

"He was tremendous in the Champions League final and a lot of clubs would like to buy him. He has just about everything, he’s the captain and maybe in the future even England’s captain.

"He has everything as a player and I hope he signs an extension to his contract. He has two years left anyway, so we must wait and see.

"But it’s not just about Steven, it’s about everyone else.

"They all turned in great performances in the final and now have to confirm that next season in the league."