Gerrard coy on Allen reports

10 agosto 2012 08:26

Steven Gerrard was reluctant to discuss speculation linking Liverpool with a move for Swansea City midfielder Joe Allen.

The Welshman was in attendance as the Reds captain and his team-mates sealed their place in the Europa League playoff draw with a convincing 4-0 aggregate win over FC Gomel.

But Gerrard had little to say afterwards regarding the possible imminent arrival of Allen.

"I think it would be very disrespectful of me to talk about Joe Allen as a Liverpool player just now, but he's a very good player," Gerrard said.

"I'm sure if we do manage to get his signature on the paper he'll bring a lot to our team but at the moment I've got to be very careful."

Gerrard admitted it was a privilege to be mentioned as one of Liverpool's elite players after notching his 150th goal for the club against the Belarus side, but admitted he would be far more interested in the club's targets being met over the coming season.

"I think it's always pleasing to score goals for Liverpool and if that means joining the elite players then that's fantastic but I'm more interested in the targets at the end of the season," he said.

Gerrard has maintained all summer that the club should be targeting Champions League qualification next season and making a strong challenge to win the Europa League after a disappointing eighth-place finish last term.

"(The target) is to get amongst Europe's best again in the Champions League and we want to do well in this competition, it's a superb trophy and we want to stay in it for as long as possible," he said.