Liverpool

Steven Gerrard: 'I would have signed new Liverpool deal in summer'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 06 January 2015

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard refuses to blame the club for failing to offer him a new contract earlier following his decision to leave Anfield.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has refused to point the finger at the club's hierarchy following his decision to leave Anfield at the end of the season.

The 34-year-old retired from international duty in the summer in order to focus his attention solely on Liverpool, but has since decided to end his long association with the club having been told that his playing time would be managed.

Gerrard admitted that he would have signed a contract had it been put in front of him at the start of the season, but refused to blame anyone at the club for dithering over a new deal.

"If a contract had been put in front of me in pre-season I would have signed it. I'd just retired from England to concentrate all my efforts on Liverpool. I didn't want my club games to be tailored," he told the Liverpool Echo.

"My injury record had been fantastic for the past two and a half years and I had a great season from a personal point of view last season. It's all ifs, buts and hindsight now. That period between the summer and the end of November gave me thinking time.

"There's no blame and I'm not angry about it. There are other people in the squad and the club had other things to worry about. There is no finger pointing from me towards the manager or anyone else at the club."

Gerrard, who will move to the MLS when his contract at Anfield expires, is understood to be closing in on a deal with Los Angeles Galaxy.