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14th Nov 2016

Steven Gerrard appears to confirm MLS exit – but no mention of retirement

Where will he end up next?

Tom Victor

Steven Gerrard hasn’t achieved everything he’d hoped over in California, and it looks like he’ll be bowing out without a single trophy.

Gerrard’s contract with the LA Galaxy is up this summer, and was unable to prevent Bruce Arena’s team suffering penalty shoot-out heartbreak in this season’s MLS playoffs.

That loss, in which Gerrard was the only Galaxy player to convert from the spot, prompted suggestions that the former England international might have played his last game.

And, while the 36-year-old is yet to confirm his retirement, his latest Instagram post suggests he has at least stepped onto an MLS pitch for the last time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMxARS4DZ6p/?taken-by=stevengerrard&hl=en

Gerrard became one of the best-paid players in Major League Soccer when he moved to Los Angeles from Liverpool in the summer of 2015.

He has made 34 regular-season appearances for the five-time MLS Cup winners in his season-and-a-half, plus two postseason games, scoring six goals.

And with his exit seemingly inevitable, attention is turning to whether he might continue playing, even if just for a few more months.

Gerrard has been linked with a coaching role at former club Liverpool, but the presence of former Reds managers Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers at Newcastle United and Celtic respectively has had a few people joining the dots and linking him with a new playing contract.

https://twitter.com/toonbaldes/status/798137259648159744

https://twitter.com/HopeJohnny/status/797873221588525056

https://twitter.com/liamednie/status/798136680922365953

Still, fans aren’t convinced he still has what it takes to be more than a bit-part player at this stage in his career.

https://twitter.com/tic_tac_tic/status/798112295620583424

At the time of writing, Celtic are the bookies’ favourites to sign Gerrard, who won 114 England caps in his 14-year international career. with Newcastle and Liverpool close behind in the betting stakes.

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