Steven Gerrard Reveals Luis Suarez Talks, Discusses Real Madrid, Liverpool, More

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed how he played the role of peacemaker between Luis Suarez and Brendan Rodgers, as the Uruguayan striker pushed for a move to Arsenal in the summer of 2013.

Gerrard, who has since left the Reds to join Los Angeles Galaxy, detailed how the relationship between his former team-mate and manager deteriorated, and how he was key in convincing Suarez he could eventually join a more illustrious team than Arsenal, per an interview with BT Sport (h/t Jack Bezants of the MailOnline):

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You had Luis Suarez training on his own in the afternoon at Melwood. Brendan’s relationship with Luis had broken down. I don’t think it was Brendan’s fault. Luis wanted to move on, to play Champions League football and he had people in his ear and people around him forcing him to make moves that maybe he didn’t really want to do. 

So I think it was just a case of being in the middle and trying to heal that relationship with him and Brendan and get him training with the first team again and just chatting to Luis and saying to him "is it Arsenal that you really want or do you want Real Madrid or Barca?" That was the jist of the conversation.

I knew, deep down that him and his family wanted Barcelona rather than Arsenal. For me and all the Liverpool supporters and Liverpool people it made no sense at all, him going to Arsenal because it would have made them an awful lot stronger. When you lose someone like Luis Suarez it makes you an awful lot weaker.

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Despite Arsenal infamously offering £40 million and one pound for the Uruguayan striker, he did end up staying at Liverpool for one more season, in which the club nearly won the Premier League title.

Suarez, a ferocious force of nature at the point of the attack, was imperative to the team’s title charge, bagging 12 assists and 31 goals.

Sports journalist Rafael Hernandez has claimed the performance of Suarez, who won three major trophies with Barcelona in his debut season, in 2013-14 should go down as one of the greatest individual campaigns in the history of English football:

In the interview, Gerrard also reveals he had the chance to join one of Spain’s elite clubs—Real Madrid. The midfielder claims that Los Blancos were keen on bringing him to the capital when Jose Mourinho was manager, but they also wanted the then Reds captain to help push through the transfer.

“They wanted me to kick up a war to get out of Liverpool for a certain amount of money, which I wasn’t prepared to do,” Gerrard says in the interview. “…But my love for Liverpool, I’m not prepared to go to war and plus I was very happy and stable at the time.”

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Mourinho has never made any secret of his admiration for Gerrard as a footballer and also famously tried to sign him for Chelsea in 2005. Despite initially handing in a transfer request, the Liverpool man changed his mind and stuck it out with his local club instead. 

A move to Real Madrid would have been intriguing for Gerrard and the technical style of La Liga may have prolonged his influence at the very top level of the game. But it’s clear he had a massive amount of respect for Liverpool, and that transcended on to a player like Suarez, who so nearly spearheaded the team to Premier League glory.

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As noted by former Wales striker John Hartson, with the Uruguayan, Gerrard and a few others gone, there’s no surprise the current team is struggling for form:

It’s an indication of just how much sway Gerrard had at Anfield away from his efforts on the pitch itself.

The Galaxy star has also recently claimed he played a major role in the club’s transfer dealings during his time at Anfield and now it transpires he was key to keeping one of the world’s best players around for another season.

So while Gerrard was a faded force on the field in his final season at Anfield, the club will find it tough to replace someone who was not only schooled in the club’s distinguished history and pageantry, but a gravitating influence for all those associated with Liverpool.