#PremierLeagueStories – #StevenGerrard Recalls the Time When #RafaBenitez “Blew Him off” when he tried to sign Newcastle Players on Loan #NUFC

Steven Gerrard said “I have done, I phoned him a couple of times at Newcastle to try and loan a couple of his players and as you can imagine he blew me out! The relationship is totally fine. I can phone him up now and talk to him for half an hour or 45 minutes, the relationship is totally fine and perfect. It was just at the time, my relationship with him was a little bit different to how it was with Gerard Houllier. It was a little bit more cold, if you like. I tried to get Longstaff in my first year here, He wasn’t playing as much and we were looking round the under-23 leagues and he was the best midfielder around in the under-23 leagues at the time. It was just a courtesy call to say: “Look, do you want us to help him to play and to get him ready?’ Then, believe it or not, he scored a goal from the edge of the box in the next game and I just sent Rafa a text saying: ‘Well that’s the end of that, then, isn’t it? You got any more?'”