Liverpool acknowledge they may face a fight to keep Steven Gerrard beyond the end of this season, with manager Brendan Rodgers now admitting that the player could look elsewhere as the club prepare to ration his appearances.
Rodgers insisted that Gerrard remains too integral to the Liverpool side to adopt an ancillary role similar to the one in which 36-year-old Frank Lampard has delivered as an impact player for Manchester City. He said that the captain still has two years left at the Liverpool helm, if he wants it.
But two weeks on from a meeting between Liverpool managing director, Ian Ayre, and Gerrard's agent, Struan Marshall, at which the terms of a renewed one-year rolling deal were put on the table, the club is yet to hear that Gerrard is ready to prolong his Anfield career. Rodgers did not display the same optimism about Gerrard extending his deal that he has previously and said that lifestyle issues were a part of his captain's consideration.
"There are other factors involved that are as much about life as they are about football," he said. "One thing I know absolutely is that it is not about money. It is not about finances." When it was put to Rodgers that other top clubs may come in for Gerrard, he said: "I can only think about the situation here and I hope there is a solution with the club and the representatives. It is not about the money, it is about the time of his career in terms of playing. He is a big, big talent."
Gerrard was unhappy that the club did not make an offer to him before last month - only two months before he enters the last six months and becomes free to talk to other clubs - though his private considerations may now include what the next two years at Anfield will actually look like.