Steven Gerrard quit Ibrox viewing Joey Veerman as the one that got away. Now the coach who gave the PSV ace his big break has warned Rangers they will have extra reason to rue their former gaffer’s failure to get his man if they don’t get to grips with him on Wednesday night.
The story behind Gerrard ’s foiled interest in Veerman is one of the many intriguing sub-plots surrounding this week’s final Champions League eliminator at the Philips Stadion. Gerrard started his final few months in Scotland desperate to get his hands on Veerman, then starring for unfashionable Dutch outfit Heerenveen.
But when the cash required to meet the now 23-year-old’s £7million asking price failed to materialise, it proved to be the beginning of the end for Gerrard’s Ibrox tenure. Within weeks he was grumbling about how Gers “hadn’t spent a penny” over the course of the previous two windows. By November the former Liverpool icon had jumped ship to Aston Villa.
