STEVEN GERRARD has revealed he was ‘tapped up’ by Real Madrid back in 2010.
The 43-uear-old manager, who has embarked on a new adventure in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq, spent virtually his entire career with Liverpool and will go down in history as one of the game’s greatest midfielders.
Real Madrid would have been a fearsome opponent with Steven Gerrard in midfield
But he wasn’t short of interest from other clubs.
Perhaps the most famous, and controversial, was in 2005 when he handed in a transfer request and seriously considered joining rivals Chelsea.
But that move never came off, and Liverpool soon realised how important their skipper was to their long-term plans.
Speaking on The Greatest Game podcast in 2020, the Kop hero revealed Real Madrid wanted him to “cause a war” in a bid to force a move to the Bernabeu.
Gerrard said: “I think if all the Chelsea stuff didn’t happen and Mourinho, when he came for me around 2010, maybe a year or two, you look back and think ‘imagine playing for Madrid for a year or two’.
“Imagine playing for Mourinho in the Champions League with Madrid, unbelievable experience. But it didn’t happen.
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Imagine playing for Mourinho in the Champions League with Madrid, unbelievable experience
Steven Gerrard
“Madrid wanted me to cause a war at Liverpool to get out, that’s the only way that could have happened.”
If Gerrard had joined Mourinho at Real, it would have been an impressive team of Galacticos.
He would have likely replaced Sami Khedira and been reunited with Xabi Alonso as the deep-lying midfielders.
In front of him would have been Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria – sure to be enough supply for frontman Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain.
The legendary Iker Casillas was the keeper at the time, with a back four consisting of Sergio Ramos, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe and Marcelo.
But Gerrard chose to stick around at Anfield – further cementing his status as a club legend.
He added: “I’m not sure if it was a full tapping but there was some kind of little… There was a little bit of flirtation. It wasn’t major.”