Steven Gerrard names one big reason he was tempted to quit Liverpool for transfer to Chelsea

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Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has spoken out about how he came close to a switch to Chelsea in 2004.

The former England international was one of the best midfielders in the world at the time and looks like he could have played for almost any club in the world.

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Gerrard admits now that he was tempted to move to Chelsea at that time due to the presence of serial winner Jose Mourinho in particular, and it’s fair to say he probably would have won a lot more if he had ended up at Stamford Bridge.

Still, speaking to Gary Neville on Sky Sports, as quoted by football.london, he insists he has no regrets.

“I regret the little bit of flirting back then and how that all blew up,” Gerrard said.

“The fact is I didn’t know whether I was coming or going with Rafa at the time. Rafa was having conversations with me like ‘I know your agent is talking to Real Madrid and Chelsea’.

“I got a paranoid feeling at the time that Rafa would have taken money to try and build Liverpool on.

“Chelsea bid £37.5 million. At the time, massive amounts of dough but what would you get for that now?

“Mourinho was a massive part of that. A lack of maturity on my part allowed me to think about it and flirt with that idea a bit.

“But now I have no regrets at all because Liverpool are the club I love – and that’s the way it should be.”

Gerrard eventually rejected Chelsea to stay on at Liverpool and the midfielder went on to lead the Reds to the Champions League title in 2005.

The current Rangers boss stayed loyal to Liverpool and remained at Anfield for the entirety of his career in England, however, things could have panned out much more differently had Gerrard signed for Chelsea.

Blues fans could have seen both Gerrard and Frank Lampard play together in the Chelsea midfield, but as fate would have it, the former Reds captain rejected to sign for the Blues and went on to retire as a Liverpool legend.

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