Steven Gerrard admits he texted two players to try and get them to join Liverpool
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SportFootballLiverpool FCSteven Gerrard was captain of Liverpool for 12 years and he spent some of his time as a leader trying to convince rivals to head to AnfieldSteven Gerrard tried to convince Willian and Toni Kroos to join Liverpool when he was leading the club as captain. The Reds face Chelsea on Saturday afternoon, with the Anfield hero hoping his side will overcome their Premier League rivals.Despite Gerrard facing off against the Blues and Real Madrid in Europe, he did try to persuade some of their players to join him when he was still lacing up his boots for Liverpool.
Discussing his move for the Brazilian before he arrived at Stamford Bridge, Gerrard said: "I had an unofficial role at the club, trying to persuade some great players to join Liverpool.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! I said hello and hoped he didn't mind me contacting him directly, I stressed how much I admired him as a player."And then, having mentioned that I knew Liverpool were speaking to his agent, I used the standard line: 'If you need to chat or ask any questions I'm available at any time.' However, he replied with: 'I'm not sure Liverpool can win me the Champions League.'"The midfielder ended up joining Chelsea for a fee of £30million to work under Jose Mourinho and spent seven years with the Blues.
Gerrard explained: "We [Gerrard and then manager Brendan Rodgers] both admired Toni Kroos immensely."I knew Real Madrid were gearing up to make Bayern Munich an offer and so I felt a bit awkward when I texted Kroos. He then retired from football following Euro 2024, after becoming arguably one of the most iconic midfielders of the modern game.While Gerrard missed out on some of his transfer targets, Liverpool still enjoyed plenty of success under his watchful eye as captain.Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV packageThis article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it.