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2015 couldn't have started any worse for a Liverpoool fan as Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will leave the club he has played for throughout his career and move to a foreign team at the end of the season, the English Premier League club said on Friday.
Steven Gerrard to quit Liverpool at end of season
Gerrard, 34, has made 695 appearance and scored 180 goals for Liverpool after joining the club as an eight-year-old schoolboy.
"I'm going to carry on playing," Gerrard said in a statement on the club website.
"Although I can't confirm at this stage where that will be, I can say it will be somewhere that means I won't be playing for a competing club and will not therefore be lining up against Liverpool -- that is something I could never contemplate," he added.
Reactions on social media:
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher backed his former teammates’ decision: “Sad day for Liverpool FC and English football with the Gerrard news, I think it’s the right decision all things considered… Leaving or retiring is a great confidence booster, this morning my timeline was full of ‘whys Gerrard starting” now it’s “Gerrard best ever'”.
Former England striker Gary Lineker made a reference to Sir Alex Ferguson’s description of the midfielder. “Seems Steven Gerrard is set to leave Liverpool at the end of the season. One of the finest players to have graced the PL. A top, top player,” he tweeted.
Former Manchester United man Alan Tonge tweeted, “Gerrard has been a top quality midfielder. He’s carried Liverpool for years. Better than Scholes, Keano and Robbo though? Not a chance.”
Finally, Arsenal legend Alan Smith placed Gerrard alongside Kenny Dalglish and tweeted, “A regular Roy of the Rovers. What a player. Steven Gerrard vies with King Kenny as Liverpool’s greatest player”