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Liverpool's Ian Ayre: 'Timing of Steven Gerrard contract offer is meaningless'

Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre believes that Steven Gerrard may still have chosen to leave the club even if he had been offered a new contract last summer.

Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre believes that Steven Gerrard's future would still have been up in the air even if he had signed a new contract last summer.

The Reds captain admitted last week that he would have signed a new deal at Anfield if it had been offered sooner, which prompted suggestions that the club didn't do enough to keep him.

However, Ayre believes that Gerrard's main reason for leaving is down to the fact that manager Brendan Rodgers wanted to limit the 34-year-old's game time.

"Steven may have signed that contract, but we may have been sat round now in the same position," Ayre told CityTalk. "We've had that before with very senior players. I had one come to me and say 'I don't really fancy this any more'.

"So the fact that he would have signed a contract last season actually doesn't make any difference. His point was that after playing every week, playing a bit-part role is not how he wanted to finish his career."

Gerrard will join MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of the season.

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Raheem Sterling of Liverpool in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Leicester City at Anfield on January 1, 2015
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


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