London: Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will join a team in the United States when he leaves Anfield at the end of the season, the Premier League club confirmed today.
Gerrard, 34, announced on Friday that he has decided to leave Liverpool after a 25-year association with the club that has seen him make 695 appearances and score 180 goals. He said that he would join a foreign club and in a teaser for an interview with him due to be broadcast on Liverpool’s in-house television channel later on Saturday, Liverpool confirmed it will be a team in Major League Soccer.
“Steven Gerrard confirms he will move to the USA this summer,” Liverpool said on Twitter. Media reports in Britain suggest that Gerrard will follow in the footsteps of former England colleague David Beckham by joining the Los Angeles Galaxy. Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has rejected a claim by Gerrard’s former team-mate Jamie Carragher that the club could have done more to prevent the former England captain from leaving. Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, have already
given Gerrard an invitation to return to the club in as-yet-unspecified capacity, and Rodgers said he was not interested in staying on as a coach.
“Steven’s statement makes it clear. He certainly knew my feelings on him wanting to be here,” Rodgers told a press conference on Saturday. “Of course I want him to stay, but his role is slightly different and naturally at this level it was going to be tapered a bit. He wasn’t ready to move into coaching yet. He still sees himself very much as a player, but when that time comes and he retires, that is maybe something we can look at then as he is someone who would be brilliant to have as part of the staff here.”
