Steven Gerrard: I turned down £10m deal to play in Qatar after Liverpool
Steven Gerrard has revealed he turned down a lucrative contract in Qatar in favour of a smaller deal at LA Galaxy in MLS.
Read more: Liverpool star Steven Gerrard heads for a different Galaxy
The former Liverpool captain says he opted against a move to the cash-rich Gulf state despite the offer of what would have been the biggest pay cheque of his career worth around £10m.
In a serialisation of his new autobiography, Gerrard reveals that a number of clubs including Besiktas, Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham and even former Everton manager David Moyes at Real Sociedad all showed interest in signing him after he left Anfield.
Wealthy Qatari clubs have signed a number of famous European and South American footballers in recent seasons, including Al-Sadd who offered World Cup winner Xavi Hernandez on a huge three-year deal worth roughly £22m.
Yet the 35-year-old midfielder says a move to California, where he earns $6.2m (£4m) a year, was the better decision for his family.
Gerrard writes: "My career has been about football: neither vasts amounts of money nor a celebrity image really interests me. So I had no problem when it became clear that if I decided to play Major League Soccer with LA Galaxy, it would be for less money than if I had stayed at Liverpool.
"It's also why I turned down a €13.5m (around £10m) net deal to play in Qatar for two years. That would have been more than I'd ever earned, but Qatar wasn't the right place for me and my family. America was much more appealing."
Gerrard also reveals that despite wanting to stay at Liverpool, he was offered a 40 per cent decrease in salary and a number of performance related bonuses. Yet he says during his time at the club he was never interested in earning more money through independent image rights deals.
He says: "I’ve heard players talking about image rights and how much it will earn them but it’s disgusting for a player to ask for image rights from his club. When you sign a contract then you sign your image rights over to the club. They pay you well and you work for them."