Transfer Window: Real Madrid say No to Gerrard
A part of the summer transfer gossip so far has been associated with Steven Gerrard switching clubs and going to Real Madrid from Liverpool. It was widely speculated that Gerrard had become frustrated with the lack of success at Liverpool which is his hometown club and thus desired a move away to greener pastures in Spain.
The timing of this speculation couldn’t have been more perfect as when Jose Mourinho took over at Real Madrid earlier on in the summer, it was considered that his first transfer target would be the Liverpool captain.
Gerrard was targeted by Chelsea F.C in 2005, when Mourinho was in charge of the club. It is still thought that Jose is a big admirer of the 30 year old box to box midfielder. Given Madrid’s transfer history, which is decorated with luring big stars to the Spanish capital with expensive deals, Gerrard to Real Madrid would not have been such of a shock for anyone involved.
Gerrard is quite well known as a lifelong Liverpool fan. He has played for the Merseyside club since his childhood days. He was a part of the Liverpool youth academy and broke through youth ranks to cement his place in the senior side in the year 1998.
In 2001, Gerrard made a total of fifty starts in all competitions for Liverpool, in doing so he led them to the League cup title, UEFA Cup title and the F.A Cup as well. In 2003, Gerrard was made the club captain at Liverpool, as the Liverpool manager at that time Gerard Houlier thought that the young English midfielder had good leadership qualities within him.
Gerrard is well known for his fierce style of play. He has played as a central midfielder for most of his career, but managers have also played him as an attacking midfielder. Gerrard has also played some games for Liverpool on the left wing. Rafael Benitez, the ex-Liverpool manager experimented with his captain several times to determine his best position in the starting eleven.
More recently, Real Madrid’s transfer consultant Ernesto Bronzetti has said that Real Madrid are not interested in Liverpool’s star midfielder. He said that the Real Madrid’s president is not interested in Gerrard because of his age. Ernesto said that Florentino Perez thinks that Gerrard’s signing will be a clash with the club’s ambitions to build a young strong team.
Bronzetti added that Kaka, who has also been a target of transfer speculation linking him to a reunion with Carlo Ancelloti at Chelsea, will be staying at Real Madrid as the Spanish club has not got any plans in place to sell the Brazilian playmaker.
He also stated that another reason why Madrid don’t want to sign Gerrard is Liverpool’s price tag of 58 million pounds. Gerrard also captained England in the recently concluded World Cup, a tournament which was forgettable for the English national team, as they were knocked out by rivals Germany in the round of sixteen.
Bronzetti also said that Maicon won’t be coming to Real Madrid because Mourinho wants to keep Sergio Ramos at the right back position. He added that the club right now is looking to sign a central defender and a central midfielder to reinforce their squad for the coming season which starts from 28th August.
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