Rafa confident Gerrard will stay

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is confident the club can defy Real Madrid and hang on to star midfielder Steven Gerrard.

Gerrard, 25, has been linked with Real in recent weeks after seeing his standing rise following his role in Liverpool’s victory in the Champions League final.

However, Benitez told Spanish paper Diario AS that he was planning to keep Gerrard at Anfield.

He said: “We are preparing a special weightlifting plan for Gerrard’s shoulders because we want him to lift a lot of trophies for Liverpool in the next few years.

“I am not in favour of selling him and we are building a great team around him because we want him to be the skipper who wins the most titles in Liverpool’s history.

“I know he feels the same way because we have already talked about it. Gerrard is a vital player for us and that is why we have not considered selling him.”

Benitez revealed that last year he had persuaded Gerrard to stay at Anfield - at the time it was reported that Chelsea were interested in acquiring the player.

Benitez said: “He had important offers last year but I wanted him to stay with Liverpool and he stayed with us – that was rewarded with us winning a big competition and it’s our wish to carry on on the same road with him.”