Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Steven Gerrard Could Be Mourinho's Second Pick For £30M Move To Real Madrid

Steven Gerrard could find himself only Jose Mourinho’s second pick for a £30m move to Real Madrid.

The Liverpool star admitted for the first time yesterday he was contemplating leaving Anfield.

That confirmed Starsport’s exclusive on January 16 which told you Real were favourites to sign him. Gerrard’s representatives contacted Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Inter Milan earlier in the season to see about the prospects of a summer move.

But Mourinho – who is quitting newly-crowned Champions League kings Inter for the Bernabeu – has pinpointed Roma’s Daniele De Rossi as his No 1 target, with Gerrard only a back-up option.

De Rossi, 26, was a major force in Claudio Ranieri’s team who pushed Mourinho’s Inter to the wire in the race for the Scudetto.

Gerrard has become increasingly frustrated about the lack of success at Liverpool, with no trophies since the stunning Champions League success in 2005.

Former Chelsea boss Mourinho built his treble-winning Inter side this season around the talents of Dutchman Wesley Sniejder.

But there is little hope of him returning to Real Madrid after just one season at the San Siro and Mourinho already has former Liverpool ace Xavi Alonso in that position.

Roma yesterday insisted they have no plans to sell World Cup-winner De Rossi, who wears the No 10 shirt for his club and country.

De Rossi scored crucial goals for Italy in their World Cup qualifying campaign.

For Roma, he plays more as a defensive midfielder but for the Azzurri he is given license to get forward in the style of Gerrard, with Gennaro Gattuso in the team to hold the midfield.

Mourinho refused to confirm he was the new boss of Real Madrid after Saturday’s 2-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Bernabeu.

He said he planned to meet with president Florentino Perez today. He added: “Should I become coach of Real Madrid then this would be because Real Madrid are a club with a huge dimension. The club want the same as other clubs - they want to win.

”If you want to win important things you need this spirit and the availability of money to back the team. The team must work together. “

”This is the pride I have when I look at Inter. We became a magnificent family of football players. From the groundsman to the players, even the players who did not play for one minute, we are a marvellous family.

“I’ve seen that in other clubs I’ve worked at, when we have created a family feeling and that was the most important thing we did.”

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