Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard put pen to paper on his first professional contract 28 years ago today.
And what a career he would go on to have. Arguably Liverpool’s greatest ever player, Gerrard is a Red through and through.
That wasn’t always the case, though. As a youth player coming through the ranks on Merseyside, he went on trial with the team that would become his biggest rivals.
Konate earns £70,000-a-week, Liverpool surely need to make a big offer for him to stay?!
Gerrard has told the story of his United trial on many occasions, but on the anniversary of his commitment to Liverpool, it’s worth revisiting the decision that might have changed everything.
Steven Gerrard explains why he went on trial at Man United
It seems an odd choice for a Scouser, a boyhood Liverpool fan, to want to go to United.
Well, Gerrard clarified that it wasn’t out of desire.
He wrote in his autobiography: “”I wore the red of United in two trial games. After doing well in those games United offered me a three-year pro contract.
“I even met their legendary manager. A group of trialists had dinner with Mr Ferguson, as he was then. Michael Owen was meant to be at the meal, but didn’t turn up.
This was a 14-year-old Gerrard, who already understood how the business of football worked.
“We sat and listened in awe to one of the managerial greats. He had heard about me and desperately wanted me to sign, but I was never going to sign for United. I looked around other clubs partly to pressure Liverpool into giving me a YTS contract.”
He did get that Youth Training Scheme contract, and three years later he signed a full professional deal to keep him at Anfield.
He wouldn’t look back.
It’s crazy to imagine what would have happened had Ferguson convinced the famous number eight to ply his trade at Old Trafford. One thing is for sure, it would have been a far bleaker 17 years at Liverpool.
Who is the bigger Liverpool legend, Salah or Gerrard?
The next Steven Gerrard at Liverpool
It’s nearly 11 years since Gerrard left the club, and since then, it’s really only two players who have done anything close to what he did as an academy product — Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones.
The former pretty much ruined his Liverpool legacy by leaving for Madrid on a free. Jones could follow him in leaving Liverpool next summer.
So who could be the next Gerrard?
Well, there are three names that spring to mind, and one who has a real chance.
Trey Nyoni and Kieran Morrison are next up in terms of academy midfielders, and they both have heaps of potential.
If we’re talking legend status at Liverpool — and yes, I agree it’s far too early to say this — the answer is Rio Ngumoha. He has generational potential as a winger, and is our best bet to take the mantle.
- READ MORE: Arne Slot might prove fans wrong judging by how the Liverpool boss is talking to Rio Ngumoha
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
