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How Gerrard turned down Man U approach in 30 seconds

Sport
'With Steven [Gerrard], it was a full-on assault. Let's get him out of there. I want him out of there,' continued Neville.

Gary Neville has revealed the ‘full on assault’ he made in trying to persuade Steven Gerrard to leave Liverpool while the pair were on international duty.

The former Manchester United right-back opened up on the approach of players trying to get their England team-mates to join up with them at club level.

He told Sky Sports: ‘There were two or three times it happened with England with me, where I spoke to Alan Shearer during Euro 96, you know, I had a conversation with him.

‘I was more junior at that time so I couldn’t have a serious conversation with him. Definitely with Wayne Rooney, we had a little chat. But he was a younger player, so you can’t put too much pressure on.

‘With Steven [Gerrard], it was a full-on assault. Let’s get him out of there. I want him out of there,’ continued Neville.

But Gerrard was having none of it and never left his boyhood club for a Premier League rival, only departing for LA Galaxy at the end of his career.

Neville went on: ‘To be fair, Stevie’s answer, he said: “My family and I would never be able to go back to Liverpool ever again”.

‘It was a very short conversation. He was very loyal, Liverpool fans. John Terry probably got about ten minutes out of him and I got about 30 seconds.’

Neville’s reference to Terry was no doubt when Gerrard and Chelsea had a brief flirtation under Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese was desperate to bring him in in 2005 after the Reds had won the Champions League.

Gerrard even reportedly told the Blues he would join but ultimately opted to remain on Merseyside and keep his legacy in tact. – dailymail

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