Resumo de Gerrard Proud After Season Opener As Liverpool Close In On Sissoko Swoop

Write your abstracct

hereThe reaction Steven Gerrard received
from

Liverpool supporters at Wrexham today
convinced

him

he

had

made the right decision to stay at Anfield.

Having stated his desire to leave the
European

champions on

Tuesday, Gerrard performed an astonishing U-

turn

less

than

24 hours later before signing a ne

The England midfielder celebrated by
parading

the

European

Cup around the Racecourse Ground and
playing

the

first

45

minutes of Liverpool's 4-3 friendly victory
at

Wrexham.

Significantly, the chanting of his name by
fans

and

rapturous applause throughout his time on
the

pitch

suggested that he will suffer no backlash
from

the

Kop.

'I didn't doubt that,' said Gerrard. 'I've
got

a

fantastic

relationship with the fans. I know they
have

been

through a

lot as well, which I'm not proud of.

'I feel as if I've made the right decision
and

as I

said,

I'm not proud of the week I've been
through.

It's

been

difficult and very confusing. And I
wouldn't

wish

being

in

my shoes on any other person. But it's all

behind

me

and

I'd like to forget about it.

Gerrard admitted he could understand the

original

anger

and

resentment felt by Liverpool supporters in
the

wake

of

his

decision to end his 17-year association
with

the

club.

'They were close to losing their best
player,

so I

can

understand people getting frustrated,' he
said.

'The majority of the fans also realised
what I

was

going

through and put themselves in my shoes. And
you

can

take it

from me, it wasn't good.'

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez admitted
his

delight

at

securing the long-term future of Gerrard
and

defender

Jamie

Carragher, who also penned a new four-year
deal

yesterday.

'It's not only important for me, but for
the

club,'

said

the Spaniard, who revealed that Liverpool
are

poised to

snatch Valencia midfielder Mohammed Sissoko

from

under

the

noses of Everton.

Benitez, who also continues to be linked
with a

move

for

Southampton striker Peter Crouch, also
admitted

Luis

Figo

could yet sign for Liverpool.

The Real Madrid winger has been working to

negotiate

his

release from the Spanish giants, who have

placed

the

move

in jeopardy by demanding a £2million
transfer

fee.

Liverpool were originally led to believe
the 32-

year-

old,

who cost £37million when he made his

sensational

move

from

Barcelona five years ago, would be
available

for

nothing.

Figo has been holding talks with president

Florentino

Perez

in an attempt to resolve the matter, and

Benitez

said: 'I

have some ideas about right wingers and
maybe

Figo

is

one

of them. We are trying to sign two or three
new

players.'

Benitez's side warmed up for Wednesday's

Champions

League

first-round qualifier against Total Network

Solutions

with

an entertaining if unconvincing victory at

Wrexham.

The Spaniard fielded virtually two
different

sides

in

either half at the Racecourse Ground.

Fernando Morientes and Milan Baros scored
twice

in

the

first and second half respectively, while
Mark

Jones,

Lee

McEvilly and Rodney Jack netted for Wrexham.

Liverpool have agreed to sign Mali
midfielder

Mohammed

Sissoko from ValenciaThe 20-year-old, born in France, had also
been

targeted

by

Merseyside rivals Everton and will cost the

European

champions £5million.

Sissoko is a powerful, attacking midfielder
has

spent

two

years in the Spanish league after joining
from
auxerres youth academy

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