Steven Gerrard says Real Madrid wanted him to cause ‘a war’ with Liverpool in order to force a move to the Santiago Bernabeu

Steven Gerrard says Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho wanted to buy him
Gerrard claims that Madrid wanted him to cause unrest at Anfield
Gerrard has also spoken of urging Luis Suarez to reject Arsenal transfer

Published:
00:42 GMT, 25 September 2015

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Updated:
04:48 GMT, 25 September 2015

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Steven Gerrard has revealed that Real Madrid wanted him to ‘kick up a war’ with Liverpool in order for the Spanish giants to sign him when Jose Mourinho was manager.

Former Liverpool captain Gerrard, now playing in the United States with Los Angeles Galaxy, repeatedly resisted advances from Chelsea and Madrid during his time at Anfield.

And the midfielder has lifted the lid on the moves made by Spanish giants Madrid, under the guidance of Mourinho, to take him to the capital of Spain.

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Steven Gerrard, now playing in America with Los Angeles Galaxy, has spoken out on his career at Liverpool

Gerrard said that when Mourinho was at Real Madrid, he made an approach to sign Gerrard from Liverpool

Gerrard said that his love for Liverpool was too strong for him to want to leave at that time in his career

‘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 said. ‘I think Real Madrid, when they’re after a player they have the attitude of “we’re Real Madrid, you should fight to come to us.”

‘But my love for Liverpool, I’m not prepared to go to war and plus I was very happy and stable at the time.’

Gerrard has also detailed the influence he had on keeping Luis Suarez at Liverpool and healing his relationship with manager Brendan Rodgers, as Premier League rivals Arsenal made a move to sign the Uruguay international striker.

‘You had Luis Suarez training on his own in the afternoon at Melwood,’ Gerrard said. ‘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.

Gerrard has also spoken about how he convinced Luis Suarez (right) to turn down a switch to Arsenal

Gerrard said that Suarez’s relationship with Brendan Rodgers (right) had broken down amid transfer rumours

‘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.’

Watch a 30 minute BT Sport special — “Sport In Focus – Steven Gerrard” – on BT Sport 1 next Wednesday 30 September at 3pm. Catch a preview on btsport.com from later tonight (24 Sept)”