• Premier League

Gerrard: Ferguson offered me 7-year contract at United

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has said that Sir Alex Ferguson offered him a seven-year contract to sign for Manchester United.

Gerrard, who made the claim in an interview with BT Sport, was recently branded "not a top, top player" by former United boss Ferguson in his autobiography.

The 33-year-old was one of a number of current and former Liverpool players and managers to come in for criticism, along with Rafa Benitez, Kenny Dalglish, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson.

And he also admitted that the Scot's criticism was hard to take, despite previously saying he wouldn't "lose any sleep over it".

"I had a letter off them, wanting to sign me on a seven-year deal when I was 13 years of age," Gerrard said.

"Then he tried to sign me again in early 2002-2003. I obviously refused, so I can't really take it to heart too much.

"I was genuinely a little bit gutted when I read his comments, when he said I wasn't a top, top player. But I won't lose sleep over it - everyone is entitled to their opinion.

"I'm a huge fan of Alex Ferguson and what he's done in the game is fantastic, that's the reason why he sold that many copies in the first week."

Although Gerrard insists he was never tempted to make the switch from Anfield to Old Trafford he does say the prospect of joining Chelsea crossed his mind.

"It did turn my head, because big things were happening at Chelsea," he added.

"They were spending huge amounts of money and, at Liverpool at the time, we were struggling and my relationship with Benitez was a bit up and down."

Gerrard has tasted Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup success with Liverpool but Premier League glory still eludes him.

But the veteran still dreams of adding to the club's tally of 18 league titles.

"There's none bigger than the Premier League and that's the one that eludes me," he said. "But I'd love to be in the position we're in now with 10 games to play. That would be a dream for me."

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