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Gerrard: I would have stayed at Liverpool

Gerrard would have stayed if Liverpool offered him a new contract earlier. Credit: PA

Departing Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard insists he is not pointing the finger but the revelation he would have signed a new contract last summer leaves the Reds' hierarchy with questions to answer.

The midfielder, who turns 35 in May, will leave the club he has been associated with since he was eight at the end of the season after turning down a new deal.

That offer was made in November but had it come three months earlier the Reds would still be looking forward to another season with their inspirational captain.

If a contract had been put in front of me in pre-season I would have signed it. I'd just retired from England to concentrate all my efforts on Liverpool. I didn't want my club games to be tailored.

My injury record had been fantastic for the past two and a half years and I had a great season from a personal point of view last season.

It's all ifs, buts and hindsight now. That period between the summer and the end of November gave me thinking time.

– Steven Gerrard speaking to the Liverpool Echo