 STEVEN GERRARD immediately set his sights on making Liverpool champions of England after committing himself to the club for a further four years. The club captain signed a new deal to keep him at Liverpool until 2011 yesterday – as did Jamie Carragher – two weeks after negotiations were completed. And Gerrard, who turned 27 last week, made his ambitions for the next phase of his career clear by declaring that winning the club’s first league title since 1990 is an inescapable priority. He said: “We can’t get away from the fact that the Premiership is the one we want. “I think these are exciting times at the football club with the takeover and the new stadium and I’m sure they are going to be four exciting years. “I don’t see why we can’t go from strength to strength and win a load more trophies, not just the Premiership but more cups as well.” Rafael Benitez has had little trouble securing the services of the duo, but the manager is entering a critical phase of transfer activity in the first window since the takeover of Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks. As well as hoping to secure the long-term futures of fellow Spaniards Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina and fend off Juventus’s potential interest in Momo Sissoko, Benitez will also turn his attention to acquiring new recruits when he returns from holiday this week. A variety of names have been thrown into the rumour pot over the past couple of weeks, but Lyon’s French international midfielder Florent Malouda is set to be the most immediate target. However, Gerrard feels that the decision of himself and Carragher to pursue success under the new regime sends out the right message to potential close-season additions. He added: “I think it’s a good statement from the club to show that they are signing big players for a long time. “Off the field the club is wanting to move forward in the right direction and it’s the same for the players – we want to back that up by delivering big performances on the pitch to make sure the club continues to be successful for years to come. It’s no good all of the things happening right off the pitch if the players don’t deliver on it. That’s where me and Jamie and the other boys come in and hopefully we can back that up with the way we play.” On a personal level, Gerrard admits he is relishing the prospect of a summer break after England’s Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia tomorrow. His appearance for his country in Friday’s 1-1 draw with Brazil was his 60th game for club and country this season and, after coming off the back of the World Cup, Gerrard is keen to finally get a prolonged rest. “I can’t wait for it,” he said. “It’s been a long season and after the World Cup last year, we only got maybe two and a half weeks off before we went straight into the Champions League qualifier. It has been a long season and it’s important that after Wednes-day we get some rest because we want to be fresh and ready for the beginning of next season.” | 
