Steven Gerrard ‘knew about Liverpool opportunity’ when he snubbed Rangers return
Steven Gerrard had his eye on returning to Liverpool when he rejected a return to Rangers this summer, Richard Keys claims.
Gerrard held talks over returning to Ibrox earlier this season after Russell Martin was sacked by Rangers, but the 55th title winner decided against making the move.
Danny Rohl eventually got the Rangers job, with Gerrard indicating the timing wasn’t right for him to head back to Glasgow.
There are significant tax implications for the former England captain to return to the UK after leaving his role as boss of Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, but Keys believes the situation at Anfield also played a role.
Gerrard turned down Rangers for Liverpool job says Richard Keys
Despite lifting the Premier League title last season at a relative canter in his debut campaign Arne Slot is now under major pressure.
The Reds’ title defence has already fallen apart as the champions currently sit 11th and 11 points adrift of leaders Arsenal, and the dreadful form has carried over into Europe as well.
Liverpool were beaten 4-1 at home by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday night, making it the third game in succession they have lost by three goals across all competitions.
Reacting to the increasingly precarious position for Slot via X Keys wrote: “There is no way Steven Gerrard didn’t know about the probability of this upcoming opportunity when he turned Rangers down.
Gerrard to Liverpool completely unrealistic
As host on beIN Sports Keys might have a greater chance of coming across information out of the Middle East than some so he might be onto something in terms of Gerrard’s thinking.
But if the Liverpool job was in the Reds legend’s head at the time, or now, then he seems to have badly misjudged his standing as a manager.
The Merseyside giants were on another three-loss run when his candidacy at Ibrox fell through in mid-October, but at that stage it was hard to think Slot’s job was on the line just months after lifting the title.
| Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | |
| Rangers | 192 | 124 | 41 | 27 |
| Aston Villa | 40 | 13 | 8 | 19 |
| Al-Ettifaq | 55 | 19 | 16 | 20 |
Now that the rot has truly set in at Anfield a change in charge is not so fanciful, but Gerrard taking over surely is given his track record, particularly in the Premier League.
After Gerrard left Rangers for Aston Villa his rapidly-ascending managerial career hit the rocks, and in terms of Liverpool he is now likely far more of a Frank Lampard going back to Chelsea as manager than Zinedine Zidane taking over Real Madrid or Pep Guardiola getting the Barcelona job.
His success in Glasgow currently looks the outlier in his career as a number one, and while some fans wouldn’t want him back there was some logic in his return, but that ship should have sailed now with Rohl in charge, and for the club’s sake there needs to be no new vacancy for the foreseeable future.
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