Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes Reds captain Steven Gerrard will end his career at Anfield.
Gerrard, 32, underlined his enduring value to Liverpool with a dominant display capped by the winning penalty in his side’s 2-1 victory at Aston Villa on Sunday.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has confirmed he will hold talks with Gerrard over a new contract and is convinced the England skipper can play at a high level for several more years.
Carragher, who will retire at the end of this season, agrees with Rodgers’ assessment and he expects his close friend to see out his career on Merseyside.
“I’m sure Stevie will sign a contract and finish his career at Liverpool the way I’ve done,” Carragher said. “There is no doubt about that. I’m sure he’ll sit down and sort it out in the next couple of months. “Steve will be finishing his career at Liverpool. He is ‘captain fantastic’ every week. “It’s not just against Villa. He’s been doing it for years, scoring at one end, saving at the other.”
While Gerrard remains Liverpool’s key figure in midfield, Carragher acknowledges Uruguay forward Luis Suarez has emerged as their most influential attacker.
Suarez shrugged off the tiredness from his World Cup qualifier exertions with Uruguay to produce another dynamic performance at Villa and earned the spot-kick that led to Gerrard’s winner. “Every side has a couple of players in the side you hope can turn things for you and Luis does it on a weekly basis,” Carragher said.
“I’ve played with a lot of top players here and I’ve always said Stevie was the best player I’ve played with. But Luis is definitely on his shoulder, he is very close.
“He put in another top performance and shows why he deserves to be PFA player of the year.”
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