Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted that he still wishes he had stayed at Anfield for one more season, because he could then have had the opportunity to play under Jürgen Klopp.
Gerrard left Liverpool in 2015 after spending 17 years with the club. At the time, Liverpool had offered him a one-year contract extension, but he was told that his role would likely become more limited, with fewer minutes and less involvement.
With his playing career entering its final stages, Gerrard decided it was the right time to move on rather than remain at Liverpool as a bit-part player. He subsequently joined LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer.
However, Brendan Rodgers was sacked just a few months after Gerrard’s final Liverpool game, and Klopp was appointed as his replacement. Klopp would go on to transform Liverpool, eventually winning the Premier League and Champions League during his nine-year spell at the club.
Looking back, Gerrard says that if he had known Klopp was definitely going to become Liverpool manager, he would have taken the risk of staying.
He explained that he would have been willing to make significant professional and personal sacrifices for the chance to work with Klopp. Gerrard believes he could have stayed, impressed the new manager and potentially earned an important role despite being in the latter stages of his career.
The former captain accepts that there was no way he could have known Klopp was about to arrive when he made his decision. From his perspective at the time, spending another year mostly on the bench did not appeal to him.
The timing therefore meant that Gerrard and Klopp’s Liverpool careers almost overlapped, but never actually did.
It remains one of those intriguing “what if?” scenarios for Liverpool supporters: what might Gerrard have achieved if he had stayed at Anfield for one more season and played under Klopp? There is no way to know, but Gerrard himself now admits that, with hindsight, he would have taken the gamble.
Liverpool’s official records confirm that Gerrard’s farewell came after 17 years at the club, during which he made 708 appearances.
