Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has been revealing his admiration for Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard in the last few days. He did not stop right there after saying that the Premier League will be a sadder place after the departure of the former England international.
Gerrard is set to leave Liverpool after more than 15 years at the club for LA Galaxy when his contract expires at the end of the season. After being in negotiations with Liverpool for much of the season, Gerrard took this decision to join LA Galaxy in order to play regularly after seeing the chances of regular first-team action limited under Brendan Rodgers.
Mourinho is a huge fan of Gerrard after the Portuguese has tried to sign him on several occasions in the past.
He came closest when he was at Chelsea in his first spell. The blues made a £ 30 million offer for Gerrard back in 2005, but they were unable to sign the player. Despite Gerrard initially accepting a move, he made a turn around and signed for Liverpool. Gerrard will leave Liverpool after having lifted every major trophy except the Premier League. Ironically, Gerrard was responsible for the 2-0 defeat against Chelsea last season that played a major role in Liverpool failing at the final hurdle in the league title race.
“I’m not happy he leaves. I would love the Premier League to keep always the best players.I think he has more than enough quality to play in the Premier League. In spite [of the fact] he’s my opponent, I feel sorry that he’s leaving,” said Mourinho.
The Portuguese, however, joked that he would like to copy Manchester City’s approach in signing Frank Lampard and try to bring Gerrard to Chelsea on a loan deal next season. Gerrard moves in the footsteps of David Beckham who played for LA Galaxy.