Diouf reveals how ‘not so special’ Gerrard begged for his jersey

El Hadji Diouf again slammed former team-mate Steven Gerrard after the Liverpool great confirmed his retirement.

The 36-year-old Champions League and FA Cup winner announced on Thursday he was retiring from professional football.

Diouf, who spent two seasons at Liverpool and has criticised Gerrard previously, took aim at the former midfielder again.

“When I arrived, I showed him that he was nothing,” he told SFR Sport.

“I asked him, ‘What great competition have you played and where do people remember you?’ It wasn’t [Zinedine] Zidane.

“The player, I respect him. He’s a great player. But the man and the person not. I let him know.

“For me, he was a player like everyone else. He had to keep up well, and play as he knew how to do, but don’t go to the coach to report what happens in the dressing room.”

Diouf believes Gerrard became scared of him, adding: “He knows that I don’t mince words.

“He did not look in my eyes because he was afraid. And he was afraid to speak to me.

“And when I arrived at Liverpool, it was he who asked me for my jersey, not the opposite.”