Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists long-serving captain Steven Gerrard has earned the right to take his time considering the club’s new contract offer.
The midfielder’s current deal expires next summer, by which time he will be 35, and although an offer of an extension has been made it has yet to be agreed by the player.
Rodgers stressed Gerrard, who joined the club’s academy as an eight-year-old, should be given as long as he wants to make his decision and said ‘150 per cent’ there was no difference of opinion between the pair over his future.
“The latest is he has been offered a contract here and at this moment in time that is where it is at,” said the Reds boss.
“In what he has done in his 16 years here (in the first team) he is a man who deserves the utmost respect and time to consider that.
“It is a big move not just in his life but in terms of committing where his next contract is going to be.
“There are probably many things Steven would have to think about in a decision like this but it certainly won’t be money.
“I have spoken to him often enough and at length and that won’t be the case.
“Between now and the end of the season he deserves that opportunity to have a think of where it is at but one thing is clear, I love working with Steven Gerrard.
“He is arguably the best player who has ever played in the Premier League, I have enjoyed every minute of working with him here and I hope that continues.
“But I need to give him the opportunity to take as long as it takes in order for him to decide what he wants to do next.
“I saw some things yesterday which were unfortunate about a rift between he and I but if there were two words I would use to describe our relationship it would be ‘honesty’ and ‘respect’.”
