Rio Ferdinand criticises Liverpool's treatment of Steven Gerrard

Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has criticised Liverpool Football Club for the way they treated Steven Gerrard at the backend of his career.

Gerrard was one fine player for the club. The midfielder scored 185 goals and registered 151 assists in 709 appearances for Liverpool's first-team.

Gerrard also won nine major trophies with the Reds. The Scouser's career could have panned out very differently.

Chelsea were close to signing Gerrard back in 2004.  But, the 42-year-old stayed loyal and remained at Anfield until 2015.

Therefore, Ferdinand criticised Liverpool for not repaying Gerrard down the line.

"Let's look at the Steven Gerrard case, he's been loyal to them," he told the FIVE podcast (01:00).

"He had obscene offers probably from Chelsea, they courted him, they tried every which way they could through players, and what not trying to get him and unsettle him.

"He became unsettled, flirted with the idea a little bit, but actually, loyalty probably made him stay at Liverpool.

"Whatever happened, he was courted by Chelsea. He decides to stay, and then he gets towards the end of his career and the club don't want to give him a new deal."

Anfield Watch Verdict

The reality is, Gerrard was pretty much done at the top level when he departed Liverpool. The midfielder was certainly not the player that he used to be.

Therefore, we could understand why Gerrard and the club parted ways. The Scouser ended up finishing his career at LA Galaxy.

Gerrard had a successful two-year stint with the MLS club. He found the back of the net five times and secured 15 assists in 39 appearances for LA Galaxy.

Gerrard retired from professional football back in 2017 and went into management.