I nearly lured Gerrard

Jose Mourinho has revealed how close Chelsea came to signing Liverpool’s Steve Gerrard.

It was during the Portuguese’s first spell at Stamford Bridge when he made a bid to lure the Reds’ legend to London.

He said: “I was dreaming of Makele, Gerrard and Lampard. We were playing in a proper triangle without a number 10 and playing Maka in front of the defenders. Me, Mr Abramovich and Peter Kenyon at that time, we dreamed of that.

“We did everything to try and it was almost there. But he was always a Red and I think the decision was right.”

Asked if it was the biggest disappointment in terms of a missed signing, he added: “I have another one when I was trying to get Lampard to Inter. I was almost there and it didn’t happen too.”

Mourinho also chided Chelsea fans who taunt Gerrard with a song mocking his slip against the Blues last year which proved so costly to Liverpool’s title dreams.

“We have so many other songs, you don’t need that one. I love this quote when he was saying in his life he would never score a goal against Liverpool. I love these words. I understand why he was almost, almost, almost, coming to Chelsea. But he didn’t and I respect that.'