The Chelsea manager admitted he tried to sign Gerrard on four different occasions at three different clubs but was denied by the player’s unstinting loyalty to Liverpool.
The Portuguese boss said he was more concerned about acknowledging Gerrard, who has never won the Premier League title, than he was about Liverpool honouring his team.
“Liverpool is a giant club and if they want to do that (provide a guard of honour) my players will accept with respect,” Mourinho told a news conference at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.
“But speaking about Liverpool and honouring the champions, it is my time to honour the champion.
Drawing comparisons with Frank Lampard’s departure from Chelsea at the end of last season, Mourinho said: “I am sad he is leaving the same as our Frank Lampard, but Frank is a Chelsea legend and it’s a different situation because Steven was always on the other side.
“I tried to bring him (Gerrard) to Chelsea, I tried to bring him to Inter, I tried to bring him to Real Madrid but he was always with the enemy. I want to honour him and I hope Stamford Bridge has the same feeling.”
- AFP
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