Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold took completely different Liverpool route
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Liverpool FC NewsFeaturesSteven GerrardTrent Alexander-Arnold was well on the way to achieving legendary status at Liverpool, but he tainted his legacy in the eyes of many supporters when he joined Real Madrid last summerSteven Gerrard stayed at Liverpool for most of his career, but Trent Alexander-Arnold left(Image: 2023 The FA)Steven Gerrard's appearance on the Stick to Football podcast this week had plenty of Liverpool fans hanging on his every word.During the episode, the panel and Gerrard covered plenty of old ground — as it was always likely to, considering it's been over a decade since Gerrard left the Reds — and one of the subjects they went over was his decision to stay at Liverpool when he had the option to leave in the 2000s.Gerrard was famously wanted by Chelsea and also Real Madrid when he was in his pomp, but ended up staying at Liverpool – despite the Reds' failure to consistently challenge for major honors.That's very much the opposite of what happened with Trent Alexander-Arnold, who did choose to leave the Reds, despite the club winning the league during his final season on Merseyside.READ MORE: Jeremie Frimpong delivers two-word news Liverpool craves ahead of Man CityREAD MORE: Liverpool 'offered chance to sign right-back' after latest Jeremie Frimpong concern“'I'm guilty of doing a little bit of snooping around such as the Chelsea and Real Madrid rumors because it does cross your mind when you're not competing for what you set out and what you want to try and achieve," Gerrard said."I'm guilty of doing a bit of flirting and a bit of thinking if you like, I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't. Especially under Rafa [Rafael Benítez] who was the type of coach were you never ever really thought he wanted you."He was quite cold and challenging and provoking and then when I see a few people going in for contracts and I felt like I should have been a priority at the time.
It gave me a little bit of doubt."As many rumours as there were about me with these teams and other rumours that Rafa would sell and reinvest with players in Spain to replace me. That's all the things that was swirling around in my head at the time.”Gerrard said he never felt fully wanted by Rafa Benitez(Image: (Photo by Phil Cole/Getty Images))Gerrard added: “Rafa was trying to provoke me a little bit around some of the stories in the media (rumours of Real Madrid)."I said I'll sign a new contract for you right now if you pay me in and around the ballpark of what people would be getting who were playing in Champions League at the time."I'm not saying make me the highest paid player in the world but give me a contract that I deserve and I'll sign it right now in front of you."He put a piece of paper in front of me and said, 'write down how much you want.' It took for me to go to the chairman and say, 'look, what's going on here?
Does this club want me or is he at it here?'”Gerrard ultimately went on to snub Chelsea's advances, committing to a contract extension at Anfield in 2005 and spending another 10 years at the club.Choose Liverpool.com as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.Steven GerrardTrent Alexander-ArnoldLiverpool FC