Reds set sights on Chelsea’s crown

STEVEN GERRARD and the chairman who describes him as “irreplaceable” have both made winning the Premiership crown their number one objective for next season.

Liverpool chairman David Moores, who will spend the next few weeks sifting through the various consortiums wishing to invest in the club, knows the jewel in the crown is Gerrard after the Anfield skipper’s goal double won the FA Cup.

Moores said: “The progress we have made this season has been outstanding. I always felt we’d get much closer to Chelsea, but I don’t think I expected us to finish with 24 more points than last year.

“We won the Champions League last season, the FA Cup this season and now we want the Premiership. It’s the only trophy which has eluded me during my 15 years as chairman and I’d love to see us win it. Hopefully it won’t be too long because that’s the big one for us.

And as Gerrard settles down for a couple of weeks rest before joining up with England’s World Cup squad, he is also thinking already of next season’s quest to knock Chelsea off their perch.

Gerrard says: “We know we’re capable of going very close to the title next season and that’s going to be the target.

“The more trophies like the FA Cup that you win, the more you want. We’ll be giving it everything we’ve got to win the title next season.”

Manager Rafael Benitez will be UEFA’s guest at tomorrow’s Champions League final in Paris when Liverpool will finally no longer be able to call themselves European champions.

And Benitez has already been linked with a whole host of new signings aimed at taking Liverpool closer to the Premier League crown.

He’s expected to complete the already-agreed deal for Valencia full back Fabio Aurelio, while Argentinian defender Gabriel Palleta and on-loan Mark Gonzalez are also due.

Benitez has been linked with Darren Bent, Craig Bellamy, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steed Malbranque, Yossi Benayoun, Barcelona winger Ludovic Giuly, Benfica defender Luisao and Jermain Pennant all since Saturday’s final.

Whether the Spanish boss still wants Djibril Cisse around, or if Fernando Morientes – left out of the Spain World Cup squad today – will stay on, remain to be seen.

Cisse certainly wants to continue at the club after taking his season’s tally to 19 goals with his strike in Cardiff.

Cisse said: “The boss hasn’t said anything to me about the future, I will go to the World Cup and maybe afterwards he’ll say something, he’s the boss. Maybe after the World Cup I will sit down with the manager to discuss things, but me, I do not want to leave. It is going to be my choice if I did, I want to stay in England, at Liverpool.”