FIVE Central Midfielders Who Could Replace Steven Gerrard

Liverpool fans have enjoyed watching Steven Gerrard dominating the centre of midfield since 1997 after he was promoted to the first team straight from the U18’s. Gerrard is one of England’s greatest central midfielders and a Premier League legend to go with it. It’s fair to say that Gerrard is deserving of a place in the football players hall of fame. However, at his age, 33, it’ll be hard for him to keep going for much longer as a regular. If Liverpool are serious about their ambitions then they must find a player who can replace Gerrard, for now and the long term.

Obviously, the Englishman will remain at the club but only as a bit-part player. Anyway, which five players in world football could replace this legend? Here are my candidates.

1. Ivan Rakitic 

The Sevilla central midfielder has, yet again, been an absolute monster for his team. 7 goals and 6 assists in 14 appearances is an incredible statistic for a centre midfielder – even for a striker or playmaker.

But his defensive contribution is also very good as he averages 2.7 tackles a game and 2.5 interceptions which puts him close to the top of the tree in terms of defensive work. The Croatia international is one of the top performers this season and would be a very smart signing for Liverpool, especially as he’s only 25 years old.

2. Mateo Kovacic 

The 19-year-old Inter Milan midfielder could be the perfect player to replace Steven Gerrard in the future as the Croatian has a big future ahead of him and still plenty of time to learn and develop. This could be the perfect remedy for Liverpool fans as they can still have Gerrard featuring on a regular basis for them but they can also watch this talented young star develop into a world class player. Not only play in the centre of the park, but also in a more advanced role.

3. Yohan Cabaye

It’s very surprising that we can still call him a Newcastle midfielder because he’s supposedly been tracked by a number of top clubs for a number of seasons now, and it’s not like the interest in him hasn’t been solid because just this summer he was subject to a bid from Arsenal.

Anyway, the Frenchman is a class player that can control the midfield very well. He has range in his passing and the vision to unlock defences. In addition to this, he has a wand of a right foot in terms of shooting because he often scores screamers. He’s very similar to the great man himself, Steven Gerrard.

4. Marco Verratti 

Not the youngest player on this list but perhaps the one with the most potential. The Paris Saint Germain star has been a regular under Laurent Blanc this season as he’s already featured in 14 games in Ligue 1. According to Who Scored he’s been their fourth best player this season, behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lucas Digne and Thiago Silva. He averages 2.5 tackles a game along with 1.9 interceptions and holds a pass success rate of 91.7%, which includes an average of 8.1 attempted long balls a game. He’s an all-rounder, much like Gerrard is, but he still has time to develop further.

5. Will Hughes 

‘The future of English football’, ‘the next Jack Wilshere’. These are just a couple of many tags that the player is stuck with at the moment. We all know that some journalists perhaps overate some young talents which can damage their careers as they cave into the pressure of being the ‘next Lionel Messi’ or something similar.

Hughes, on the other hand, is handling the pressure very well and is in actual fact proving to everyone that he’s extremely capable of reaching his full potential. I’m sure Liverpool fans will want to have this future star in their ranks soon.