Gerrard’s attempts to lure top players to Liverpool have been revealed in the 35-year-old’s new book ‘My Story’, currently being serialised in the Daily Mail.
Willian was the first player to be given the ‘sales pitch’, with Gerrard pointing to Liverpool’s fan base and history as reasons the Brazilian should join the Merseyside club
However, Willian sounded much more interested in Champions League football or should we say LiverpoolÂ’s lack of.
"I went in with my sales pitch. ‘I think Liverpool would be a great move for you. The fans are amazing, the history is there and weÂ’re building a good team. You could do something great here - and we’d love to have you.'
"The next text from Willian was so obvious I could have written it for him even before I read it. He again said that it would be great to play in the same team as me but ‘I’m not sure Liverpool can give me the Champions League.’ He went to Chelsea."
The second player on the end of Gerrard’s charm offensive was Toni Kroos, and player who had won it all with Bayern Munich and Germany
Gerrard admitted this one was a long shot, but still felt obliged to ‘give it a whirl’, needless to say, Kroos joined Real Madrid that summer.
“Kroos didn’t make me feel like I was a total idiot. But, of course, he would soon sign for Real Madrid. We had a nice little exchange of texts and I said well done and good luck.”
Source: DSG