STEVEN GERRARD insists he will sign his new £120,000-a-week deal as soon as it is placed in front of him. The Liverpool skipper and his advisors have been discussing a contract extension over the past few weeks — as revealed in Sport. And Gerrard is ready to put pen to paper the moment it is presented to him — even if that comes in the middle of their training camp in Cadiz.Liverpool jetted out to Spain yesterday to complete their preparation for next week’s Champions League final with Milan. And all the signs are that by the time they return, they will have tied their captain to Anfield until 2011 in a deal worth £24million.
Gerrard said: “The talks are progressing well and I am ready to sign now. “It is a question you would have to put to chief executive Rick Parry and the American owners, but I’m ready to sign any time. As soon as it is put in front of me I will do so. “I am 27 and hopefully can sign the long-term deal so that the fans can see the best days of my career at Liverpool.
“As a player you want to be as successful as possible and this is a really exciting time to be at this club. “There is the new stadium, the financial backing off the pitch, and the team is progressing well. “This is our second European Cup final in three years so things are going well, and I think there’ll be a big improvement in the league next season too.”
Two years ago, Gerrard’s future was clouded in doubt with Chelsea waiting to pounce. But Kop boss Rafa Benitez said: “It could be signed before the final, but it’s a different situation than two years ago. “The positive thing was to show the players that we want to keep them.”