Former Liverpool player and assistant manager has admitted in his autobiography (out next week) that Liverpool tried to sign Alan Shearer whilst there was uncertainty over a new contract for the striker at Newcastle.
‘WE needed an immediate impact at the start of that 2003/04 season and one player who came to our attention was the opposite of our two young hopefuls Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Anthony Le Tall-ec. He was a tried and trusted superstar, one of the great players in the game and a man whose stature could give everyone a lift -on and off the pitch. His name was Alan Shearer.
Adding:
‘Of course, Alan was still a god at Newcastle, but he had not signed his new contract. Gerard came to me and said: ‘Do you fancy Alan Shearer?’ I said ‘Of course!’ although I felt there was little or no chance of securing his services because of his ties to the North East.’
Even Gerrard backed the move!
‘Gerard felt he could be another Gary McAllister for us, a great pro who could spark things with his approach, attitude and quality. It would also have revived the Alan Shearer/Michael Owen partnership that had been so successful for England in the past. The boss said that he had this feeling that Alan would come to Anfield. Contact was made, although Newcastle were obviously not keen to let him go.’
However ‘Nothing happened over a period of 10 days and then all of a sudden the Geordie hero got the contract at St James’ Park that he had wanted.’
The final line proving exactly what Newcastle means to Shearer:
‘In the end it was his sheer love of all things Geordie that kept him in the North East.’
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