Captain Gerrard leaving Liverpool at the end of season

By: 9 years ago

In this Sunday, June 22, 2014 file photo, England national soccer team captain Steven Gerrard listens as head coach Roy Hodgson speaks during a press conference after a squad training session that was closed to the media for the 2014 soccer World Cup at the Urca military base in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. England captain Steven Gerrard announced his retirement from international football on Monday, July 21, 2014. AP

LONDON, England— Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will leave the club at the end of the season but will not play for a rival.

The 34-year-old midfielder made the announcement on Friday midway through a season when he has no longer been a guaranteed starter.

Gerrard says he’s “making the announcement now so the manager and team are not distracted by stories or speculation about my future.”

With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Gerrard has been free to talk to foreign clubs since New Year’s Day.

Gerrard says his next club “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.”