Twice, he failed. As he stands on the cusp of taking over at Real Madrid, he seems determined to make it third time lucky.
Mourinho first approached Liverpool's captain after taking charge at Stamford Bridge in 2004, offering the player a £125,000-a-week contract to leave the club he had been attached to since the age of eight.
But the player's father, Paul, convinced his son to remain at Anfield, despite suggestions Gerrard had even gone so far as texting Mourinho to confirm his intention to join him.
A year later, in the aftermath of the miracle of Istanbul, he came closer still, handing in a transfer request after Liverpool seemed to stall on an improved contract.
Rick Parry, the then chief executive, even went so far as to admit that the player had "made it clear he wants to move on and it looks pretty final."
The next day, Gerrard signed a new, £100,000-a-week, four-year deal, with both sides blaming a breakdown in communication as reason for the stand-off.
Despite persistent links with Inter Milan, Gerrard has not come close to leaving Liverpool since. Now Mourinho is preparing, it seems, another assault, hopeful of a more successful ending.
Mourinho first approached Liverpool's captain after taking charge at Stamford Bridge in 2004, offering the player a £125,000-a-week contract to leave the club he had been attached to since the age of eight.
But the player's father, Paul, convinced his son to remain at Anfield, despite suggestions Gerrard had even gone so far as texting Mourinho to confirm his intention to join him.
A year later, in the aftermath of the miracle of Istanbul, he came closer still, handing in a transfer request after Liverpool seemed to stall on an improved contract.
Rick Parry, the then chief executive, even went so far as to admit that the player had "made it clear he wants to move on and it looks pretty final."
The next day, Gerrard signed a new, £100,000-a-week, four-year deal, with both sides blaming a breakdown in communication as reason for the stand-off.
Despite persistent links with Inter Milan, Gerrard has not come close to leaving Liverpool since. Now Mourinho is preparing, it seems, another assault, hopeful of a more successful ending.
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