Jose Mourinho will test Steven Gerrard’s resolve with a £30 million Real Madrid bid for the Liverpool captain.
It is reported that Mourinho had still to be officially confirmed as Real Madrid’s new coach when he admitted he wants to make Gerrard a Galactico.
The former Chelsea boss would also like to be reunited with Frank Lampard at the Bernabeu – but Gerrard is the one most vulnerable to his advances.
Mourinho effectively tapped Gerrard and Lampard up when asked about them as he said: “They are players that you buy which you cannot recoup money for, but if you get two or three years out of them it is worth it.
“They are two great players and they always give everything.
“I like players at the end of their careers. I love to have some players around 33 or 34 years old.”
The timing of Mourinho’s bid for Gerrard could hardly be worse for Liverpool and their weary fans as the civil war at Anfield intensified this week.
The England star, who has three years left on his £130,000-a-week Reds contract, could well be the most high-profile casualty of the vicious in-fighting and he is understood to be unsure where his future lies.
Gerrard turns 30 on Sunday and, after rejecting Mourinho’s advances in 2004 and 2005, he knows this is his last chance of a big move away from Liverpool.
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