Gerrard scoops up 26 million pound Liverpool deal

Gerrard scoops up 26 million pound Liverpool dealLondon, Apr. 4 : Liverpool FC captain Steven Gerrard has signed a new 26 million pound contract, which will see him playing for the club for the rest of his career.

According to The Sun, the Kop skipper, 28, agreed a two-year contract extension, taking him to 2013, and will see his wages rise nearly 20,000 pounds to around 125,000 pounds a week.

Boss Rafa Benitez said: "It is a very, very positive message to the players that we have the commitment of Gerrard, which means we can go forward and can concentrate on football.

"We are trying to keep the spine of the team here and with Gerrard we wanted to be sure we keep the captain for a long time."

The timing of the announcement, a day before the trip to Fulham, was a masterstroke in psychology by the Spaniard.

He admitted: "We want to show everyone is pushing in the right direction.

"With Stevie, as soon as we said we wanted to talk about an extension it was agreed very, very quickly."

Gerrard's deal was swiftly followed by a similar extension for Dirk Kuyt and Benitez now hopes to thrash out further agreements with Sami Hyypia, Alvaro Arbeloa, Fabio Aurelio and Daniel Agger.

Yet centre-back Jamie Carragher, who still has two years left, will have to wait until the end of the season for his fresh deal. (ANI)

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