Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has been opening up on his relationship with Ibrox footballer Jermain Defoe.
The former Liverpool and England captain was an international teammate of the striker’s, and the two remain good friends.
The dynamic will have somewhat shifted with Stevie in the manager’s seat, but his opinion on Defoe has not. Gerrard values Defoe just as much as a person as he does a player. And it starts with his attitude on the training pitch.
“You are looking at a player with a body which is defying the odds,” said Gerrard, as quoted in The Scotsman. “Jermain has never had a sip of alcohol in his life and he has been impeccable around the training ground since he walked into this club.
“After training sessions, he pulls the young strikers like Josh McPake and Dapo Mebude aside and does an extra 15 minutes with them from a coaching perspective.
“No-one has asked him to do it, he just wants to give something back to up and coming players.
“That’s gold dust”
“That’s gold dust for us as a staff. He is a special person as well as a special footballer. That goes a long way.”
The Rangers boss then went on to discuss Jermain’s future at Rangers. He is adamant that the striker has a real future at Ibrox and the club is clearly delighted to have Jermain on board.
As for not playing as much as he might’ve liked, Gerrard puts it down to two things. Firstly, the form of Alfredo Morelos, and secondly, the fact the manager favours using one striker.
But whether Alfredo Morelos sticks around or not, Gerrard is adamant it won’t affect Jermain Defoe’s Rangers future.
“If Alfredo is here or not next season, I want Jermain here right alongside me on this journey to try and achieve something special for Rangers,” said Gerrard.
And if Defoe’s quotes in the same Scotsman piece ring true, he wants to be at Ibrox next year too.
