Chelsea lead chase for Gerrard

Steven Gerrard forgets about club distractions as he listens to Sven

14 April 2012

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has pleaded with Steven Gerrard to resist a move to Chelsea.

Speculation is rife that the Stamford Bridge club are prepared to break the £30million domestic transfer record to acquire the services of the England midfielder.

Reports claim Chelsea are ready to double Gerrard's wages to an incredible £120,000 a week to make him the highest paid of all their big-money signings.

After unveiling new Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez yesterday, Parry made it clear he is aware of interest from Chelsea and Manchester United and knows that he faces a massive fight to hang on to his club captain and prize asset.

Parry is understood to have a gentleman's agreement with Gerrard that would allow the player to leave the club if it did not show significant improvement last season. Although they came fourth, Parry revealed the player made it clear in talks before leaving for Euro 2004 that he did not see this as a major step forward.

The agreement helped persuade the midfielder to sign a four-and-a-half-year contract last season and guarantee he would not leave as a free agent next year.

But Gerrard was dismayed at a campaign that left Liverpool 30 points adrift of champions Arsenal and it is widely reported today that he wants permission to speak with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Parry knows he faces an uphill task to keep Gerrard from the lure of Roman Abramovich's millions.

"I spoke to him three weeks ago and we knew he was not happy with how things were going. He was down and said he didn't regard fourth as any sort of achievement," said Parry.

"His concerns were fairly deepseated. They were not expressed idly. All being well, we can persuade him that his future is here, but we are not being complacent."

The Gerrard crisis overshadowed the appearance of Benitez who impressed with his excellent English.

Parry added: "I hope this appointment swings it for him. Under no circumstances do we want to lose him. I've got immense respect for Steven as a player and as a person, but we're not going to make it easy (for him to leave).

"But you cannot force anyone to stay against their wishes. He does not want to get to 35, been loyal to the club but found he's never won anything.

"I understand that - his place in the England team is important to him and medals are important to him. With Stevie it's just passion to win titles. You can't knock that or quarrel with that.

"All you can say is, hang on Stevie, we're with you on that." Asked about Gerrard's head being turned by the prospect of the potential salary away from Anfield, Parry said: "I would hope that Steven would think about it more deeply.

"He's got his relationship with the fans to think about, as well as his relationship with the fans in the future. You'd like to think that medals at Liverpool mean more to him than medals elsewhere." Former Valencia coach Benitez, 44, said he looked forward to meeting Gerrard and laying out his plans for the future.

"He is from Liverpool, his heart and his spirit is with Liverpool. He needs to know that the new manager is with him and has confidence in him. I need to meet with him to tell him what my ideas are, and to tell him how important he is for us. I could try to convince him by talking, but I would prefer to try and convince him by working. He is intelligent, I don't need to tell him to give me a chance. He knows he is a good player. I know he is a fantastic player. He understands that Liverpool has now perhaps a new mentality.

"Last year Liverpool were a very good team, but now they are a very good team with some differences."

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