Gerrard a key part of our game plan, says Parry

LIVERPOOL chief executive Rick Parry is determined to keep Steven Gerrard at Anfield and build a successful team around the midfielder.

Gerrard, 25, has been linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid following a season which finished with him lifting the Champions League trophy.

Parry will now talk to Gerrard about a new deal to keep him at the club, with negotiating set to start next week when the player's agent Struan Marshall returns from holiday.

"The priority is to keep Steven and build a winning team around him," Parry said. "As long as he wants to stay, we want to keep him.

"There's a common aim to get things sorted, we want him to stay and hope Steven wants to stay. All being well, it will be sorted quickly, there is certainly no panic.

"The issue for Steven was he wanted to win trophies with us and wanted to be successful. But the key was he wanted to be successful with us.

"There's a will on both sides but we're not going to negotiate in public, it will happen when it happens in our time scale.

"It is another hugely important task. There is no higher priority for us than to secure Steven's future."

Gerrard was regarded as the driving force behind Liverpool's success in Europe last season, scoring a vital goal against Olympiacos to guide Rafael Benitez's side into the knock-out stages.

The England midfielder then led the fightback in the final against AC Milan when his side were 3-0 down at half-time, scoring Liverpool's first goal before they drew level and won on penalties.

The win led to UEFA changing their rules to allow Liverpool defend their trophy despite missing out on qualification after finishing fifth in the Premiership. However, they will join the competition from the first qualifying round, which has resulted in the club abandoning a lucrative pre-season tour of Japan.

There were suggestions a reserve Liverpool side could play the matches against Shimizu S-Pulse and Kashima Antlers, but the dates arranged for those fixtures, July 27 and 30, would have clashed with the second qualifying round.

Parry added: "We've explored ways to fulfil our commitment but had to cancel."

Meanwhile, Bolton manager Sam Allardyce believes new signing El-Hadji Diouf can go on and become one of the leading strikers in Europe. The 24-year-old Senegal international has agreed a four-year deal after arriving initially on loan from Liverpool. Diouf never settled at Anfield following a £10 million move from Lens but rekindled his appetite for the game under Allardyce and his staff. He scored nine goals last season and the Bolton boss is convinced he will kick on when the campaign begins in August after agreeing an undisclosed fee with Liverpool.

"He has had a turbulent last few years, but now he can take all that pressure off his shoulders and concentrate on playing football at the highest level," Allardyce said.