Steven Gerrard names striker Liverpool sold who could have matched Luis Suarez

Steven Gerrard played with some fantastic strikers during his time at Liverpool. The Liverpudlian regularly reminisces about his telepathic connection with Fernando Torres, or the obscene talent of Luis Suarez, but there’s one other forward he believes could’ve become an Anfield legend if given more time.

In the summer of 2002, coming off the back of a second-place finish, Liverpool opted to sign El Hadji Diouf from Lens after Gerard Houllier had decided against a permanent deal for Nicolas Anelka.

The French international had scored five goals in 22 appearances for the Reds while on loan from Paris Saint-Germain the previous season, with Gerrard believing it was a big mistake not signing the then 23-year-old permanently:

“It’s not the decision I would’ve made, I’d have taken Anelka all day long,” the Scouser told the Open Goal podcast.

“I loved Anelka, Anelka was class. His movement, his touch, he had a swagger. He’d done it at Arsenal, played at Madrid, he was in the French national team.”

When asked how Anelka compared to Torres and Suarez, Gerrard was quick to compliment all his former teammates:

“I think if he would’ve had a longer stint at Liverpool, I think potentially he could’ve done as much damage as them.

“But, listen, Suarez was off the scale. He’s the best player I’ve ever played with. Torres had an 18-month period where he was unplayable, he was powerful from the waist down.

“He used to come off the pitch and say to me ‘I just feel on top of the world here, the way the fans see me’. He was phenomenal, but I always say that I’d take Suarez just because he could do more.

“I’ve seen Suarez occupy defences and midfields on his own, he’s that good. He’s just an absolute animal as well. Never injured, never in the treatment room. Trained the way he played, he was just desperate to be in the team. Two great boys as well.”

Liverpool’s misjudged recruitment means we’ll never know how Anelka’s time at LFC could’ve compared to those greats.

However, following his loan stint at Liverpool, he then went on to have successful spells at Manchester City, Fenerbahçe, Bolton and Chelsea – scoring over 100 goals.

A head-in-hands decision by the Liverpool hierarchy, as the chosen alternative, Diouf, failed to hit the ground running on Merseyside, scoring three goals in 55 appearances for the Reds before a loan spell turned permanent at Bolton.

A case of what could’ve been.