A report in the Mirror this morning claimed that Liverpool’s captain Steven Gerrard would deliver a boost to the Reds by signing a new four-year-deal – before the Champions League final.
The article was written by David Maddock, a journalist who is a friend of Robbie Fowler and broke the news of Fowler moving away from Anfield. Whether he’s any inside knowledge within the current regime isn’t known, but he’s certainly claiming the story as an exclusive.
According to Maddock, the deal will be worth £80,000 per week initially, and will rise to £100,000. Gerrard has already made it fairly clear that he wants to stay – his current contract still has two years to run.
Maddock also claims that UEFA have made plans to put Liverpool into the Champions League next season – as long as they beat AC Milan in the final. UEFA’s Executive Committee are due to meet in Manchester next month, and due to what Maddock refers to as "massive pressure" from Champions League sponsors and TV companies, they look set to sort out a way in for the Reds. Money talks, and a lot of money is paid by both sponsors and TV companies, and they don’t want to see the competition devalued.
According to the article Liverpool would not just be given a place in the competition next year, but they’d also be given the No. 1 seed. That would mean qualifiers having to be played by Arsenal, Man United and Everton, with Liverpool going straight into the group stages. At which point we find the story may have just been stretching things a little.