Steven Gerrard Feels Conflicting Hope and Concern over Emre Can’s Future

Can hasn’t signed a Juventus deal yet, and that’s reason for hope. But that he will remains the likeliest outcome.

Emre Can has been free to sign a pre-contract with Juventus for a month now. He still hasn’t, leading to renewed hopes that amongst the fans at least that, just maybe, in the end he’ll decide to sign a new long-term deal. It’s a hope that former captain and current youth coach Steven Gerrard shares.

“Liverpool have made him a better player and Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff are perfect for him,” was Gerrard’s take during an appearance on BT Sport. “I can’t make the decision for him, but in his shoes I’d be a bit more patient with Liverpool. The club and fans have got a lot of belief in him.”

They also have some concerns about his consistency, something seen this past month with some of Can’s best Liverpool performances—against Manchester City and then Huddersfield Town—and his worst—against Swansea and West Brom—coming all in a row in a four match run to end January.

Still, at his best Can is a 23-year-old with the talents of a truly top class midfielder, the sort of player who would fetch £50M in the current market. At his worst, he’d still probably go for £20M and it would still be a loss for Liverpool if in the end they lost him for nothing to Juventus or someone else.

That, though, still seems likeliest. Even if reaching the end of January and going a month without him signing a Juventus pre-contract means there’s a sliver of room for the fans, the club, and Steven Gerrard to think that, just maybe, this all ends with a new Liverpool deal for Emre Can.

“If he had decided he was going to stay at Liverpool, I think everyone would know,” Gerrard added. “You still have that little bit of hope as a Liverpool fan he might change his mind but, for me, it’s a concern.”

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com