Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has claimed Rafael Benitez wanted to sell him to Chelsea.
Gerrard was linked with a move to the Blues in the summer of 2005, much to the anger of Liverpool fans given the growing rivalry with Chelsea.
Why was Gerrard close to joining Chelsea in 2005? Five key things to know…
- Rafael Benitez took charge of Liverpool in June 2004 and led the club to Champions League glory in his first season.
- Steven Gerrard was captain at the time and instrumental to Liverpool’s penalty shootout win in the final, having trailed AC Milan 3-0 at half-time.
- Shortly after the final, Gerrard was heavily linked with a move to Premier League champions Chelsea, a deal which looked to be on its way through.
- But Gerrard ultimately stayed put at Liverpool and has since revealed it was Benitez who looked to push the move through, not him.
- Gerrard played 710 games for Liverpool in all competitions, the third-most of any player in the club’s history.
But Gerrard ultimately stayed put, signing a new long-term contract with Liverpool and would remain as club captain until his departure in 2015.
And, speaking on Make Us Dream, a new documentary about the player, Gerrard has admitted he was thinking about a potential move to Chelsea.
“For me at that time I was thinking about the speculation that Rafa would surely be in a different place with me,” he said.
“But I signed a long-term deal and it was done.
“From my point of view, there was no urgency.”
However, Gerrard was quick to make clear it was in no part down to Liverpool, rather his apparent strained relationship with Benitez who appeared to be pushing him towards Chelsea.
Gerrard added: “I felt like it was real. I felt like Rafa wanted to pressure me.
“I felt like I was getting pulled from pillar to pole, so much s*** going through my head.
“What I was giving to the club, it was my life but maybe I deserved to play in a better team with a manager that loves me.
“Maybe it would be better for me to move on. I was lost in that spin.”
In his 17-year association with Liverpool, Gerrard played 710 games and won two FA Cups, three League Cups, one Uefa Cup and one Champions League.
Benitez and Gerrard’s frosty relationship
This is not the first time Gerrard has spoken down about his relationship with Benitez at Liverpool, with the former England international previously mentioning his ex-boss in his autobiography released in 2015.
Gerrard harked back to a time when Benitez first took control of the club and the way he greeted his mum, getting things off to a bad start.
“I don’t think Rafa Benitez liked me as a person,” Gerrard wrote.
“I’m not sure why, but that’s the feeling I got from him. It probably started even before he spoke to me, when he met my mum.
“Even though he was being replaced by Rafa, Gerard Houllier still loved Liverpool and he remained very close to me. He and my mum flew out to Portugal to watch me play for England against Croatia — and they bumped into Rafa.
“Gerard introduced Rafa to my mum. Rafa shook her hand, said hello and then immediately asked her a very blunt question: ‘Does Steven like money?’”
But, shortly after, Benitez responded to Gerrard’s claims, insisted their relationship was good and the reports of hostility may have been down to trying to sell the autobiography.
“I understand that books need to be sold. Steve is a phenomenon. As a coach it’s always good to have a good personal relationship with the players,” he said.
“I speak frequently with my captain and more so in England. I spoke with Steve every day. If he’s had better relationships with other coaches then that is something out of my hands.”
After spells with Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Napoli, Benitez is back in the Premier League as manager of Newcastle United, while Gerrard has started his own managerial career in charge at Rangers.
The post Benitez wanted to sell me to Chelsea – Gerrard appeared first on Squawka News.
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