Steven Gerrard Contract: Latest News and Speculation on Liverpool Negotiations

Steven Gerrard is counting down the final months of his Liverpool contract, but Anfield bosses are keen to see the legendary skipper extend his stay beyond the summer.

Continue for updates.

Tuesday, Nov. 11

Gerrard Talks Set to Commence

Brendan Rodgers recently made clear his intention to renew Gerrard's Liverpool contract, and now the club's owners will act upon those wishes, per Dominic King of the Daily Mail:

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Liverpool are set to open contract talks with Steven Gerrard later this week.

[...] Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is anxious to keep Gerrard at Anfield and has recommended to Fenway Sports Group that his contract be renewed. 

Rodgers held initial discussions with Gerrard’s representatives last month to explain his role and now it will be a case of agreeing terms.

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Tuesday, Nov. 4

Gerrard Facing Hefty Pay Cut

Steven Gerrard will have to take a substantial pay cut to earn a new Liverpool contract, according to the Daily Star's Duncan Wright.

Gerrard's current deal expires in the summer, and he recently confessed he may have to find a new club, but Wright reports there is a plan to lower the Liverpool skipper's wages:

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The American owners are not prepared to match his existing £180,000-a-week terms - believing he is not worth superstar wages with age now seeing his influence on the pitch reducing.

Instead they have put on the table a two-year-contract that will pay £90,000-a-week for the first season, dropping to £60,000-a-week in the final 12 months.

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Saturday, Nov. 1

Rodgers Expect Gerrard Contract Extension

Dominic King of the Daily Mail has an update on Gerrard's contract talks from manager Brendan Rodgers:

Friday, Oct. 31

Gerrard Contract Talks Planned

Liverpool will open contract extension talks with longtime skipper Steven Gerrard to ensure the midfielder doesn't leave the club at the end of this season, according to the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce.

The 34-year-old joined the Reds' youth academy in 1987 and has only ever worn the iconic shirt on the professional level, so its' difficult to fathom he could leave Anfield when his contract expires at the end of this season.

Pearce shared the midfielder's comments on such a scenario unfolding earlier in the day, when he refused to rule anything out:

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I'm only contracted until May. As it stands, I'm here until the end of the season and want to make the most of it.

I won’t be retiring this summer.  I will play beyond this season. 

We will have to wait and see if that’s at Liverpool or somewhere else. That’s Liverpool’s decision. If they don't come then I will see what's out there.

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Fans and pundits still expect Gerrard to return to the club next season and retire as a Red at some point in the future, and it appears Brendan Rodgers and Company have similar plans, as Pearce wrote:

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Anfield officials always intended to wait to see how the early stages of this season panned out before sitting down with the skipper to discuss his future. Talks are expected to begin in the next fortnight with the Reds fully committed to keeping him at Anfield.

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Gerrard is yet to miss a single minute of Premier League action in 2014-15, per WhoScored.com, and his value to the club goes well beyond what he does on the pitch.

A native of Merseyside, he's a club icon who played a major part in all of the Reds' successes in the past two decades, perhaps never more than when he scored Liverpool's opening goal in the 2005 Champions League final comeback-win over AC Milan:

Gerrard is more than one of Rodgers' midfielders—he's a club legend, beloved by fans and players alike. The Daily Mail's Dominic King can't believe it's taken the team so long to open contract negotiations:

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That Liverpool’s owners have let it get to this point suggests they do not quite appreciate Gerrard’s importance to this club. Allowing the situation to drift has been ham-fisted, and not telling the club captain of their plans lacks courtesy.

[...] Of course, all this may be resolved before the new year but the dithering has resulted in Gerrard raising the prospect that he may play elsewhere next season. It should not have come to this.

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The biggest question marks in talks regarding a potential new deal will revolve around Gerrard's role within the club. Always a fiery competitor, convincing the former England international he may have to be content with a spot as a rotational player in the future could prove difficult.

Regardless, it's imperative some form of arrangement is reached before other clubs can launch their offers in the January transfer window. Gerrard is far too popular with the fans for the club to just give up on him at the end of this season, and after a marriage that has lasted for almost 30 years, he deserves to retire as a Red.