Gary Neville has revealed how quickly Steven Gerrard rejected a move to Man United, despite Alex Ferguson trying to sign him.
Steven Gerrard was Liverpool from start to finish, but that didn’t stop them from turning their heads from time to time.
In the summer of 2005, he almost joined Chelsea before deciding to stay on Merseyside after winning the Champions League.
It was a long, drawn-out saga, involving a lot of decision-making. However, when it came to rejecting Man United, there was no question of loyalty.
Gary Neville explained in The Overlap how, in 2004, he “came into (Gerrard’s) room with England and asked him to sign for [Man] United”, by order of coach Alex Ferguson.
The former right-back then revealed how Gerrard responded, saying: “He said, seriously, ‘I wouldn’t leave Liverpool and my family would never leave Liverpool.’
“They were his exact words to me.”
It was at Ferguson’s request that Neville carried out the tapping up. Neville admitted that his boss had told him the task was “ambitious”.
The expert added: “I think his (Ferguson’s) words were eloquent: ‘I’ll go get him and walk him back to East Lancs.'”
While there was some hype, Gerrard was not wrong about the anger he would have caused if he moved to Man United. A year later, people were burning their shirts at the prospect of a transfer to José Mourinho’s Chelsea.
The Liverpool captain later admitted why he was almost lured to London.
In 2013, he said: “They were spending huge amounts of money and in Liverpool at the time we were struggling and my relationship with [Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez] It was a little up and down.
“I have openly admitted that it turned my head, but I can now honestly admit from the bottom of my heart that the best decision I made was to stay at the club I love.”
Fortunately, neither move came about and Liverpool’s number 8 remained on Merseyside until the end of his career, when he played 39 games, after 710 for the Reds.
