But to Gerrard, winning just one league title with Liverpool is worth a hatful anywhere else.

We all want our own players to live and breathe our club, just like we all do. To cry when we lose, to show every conceivable emotion and hurt when it all goes wrong.

Steven Gerrard is that man. Gerrard was summed up by young West Ham midfielder Mark Noble at the weekend, after an evening chasing the Liverpool man all over the Boleyn Ground pitch.

Noble can understand what drives Gerrard. The youngster is born and bred West Ham, just like Gerrard is at Liverpool. And the young midfielder said: "He is just the best there is, isn’t he? Anywhere in the world."

The Footballer of the Year crown has gone to many who are not fit to wear Gerrard’s boots. Players who do not understand the merits of loyalty, passion and respect for the community they were born into.

But Gerrard has carried the flag for Liverpool, the city, since he broke into the team. This season he has driven, led, forced Liverpool to within touching distance of United’s crown.

He said recently: "It would mean an awful lot more to be successful at Liverpool than it would at any other club.

"I might have won more medals somewhere else, but if I was to win the league here along with a few more cups, that would mean a lot more than winning seven or eight trophies elsewhere.

"I can share it with my family, with the Liverpool supporters because I have been one of them all my life.

"I could have gone to Chelsea - and their interest turned my head slightly. But I look back now and I am really pleased I decided to stay. I am part of a top team here that can be successful."

He added: "Every day I am captain of one of the biggest clubs in the world, where you are expected to win every single game."

Single-handedly at times, Gerrard has done just that. The man who dragged Liverpool back into the 2005 European Cup final, the man who struck an amazing 35-yard effort in injury time to all but win the FA Cup a year later.

He is paid over £100,000 a week and he knows his worth - but so do Liverpool’s support and the fans of every club in the country who envy Liverpool’s star attraction.

Gerrard, these days, is a rarity. He is destined to be a one-club man and if he does lift the Premier League trophy, even the Old Trafford hordes cannot deny him his moment.