For Jonjo Shelvey, Steven Gerrard was more than just a Liverpool and England legend. He was the player he had grown up watching and dreamt of emulating.
By the time Shelvey made his senior debut for Charlton in 2008, Gerrard was a Champions League winners, a two-time FA Cup victor and had won 65 caps for his country.
Just two years later, Shelvey would not only be sharing a dressing room with the Reds icon, but living next door to him.
Shelvey on Gerrard
Gerrard’s approachability and down-to-earth nature meant the pair soon became close, with Shelvey also admitting that their proximity had one particularly close detail.
"I grew up watching a DVD about his career, so I knew everything about him,” Shevley tells FourFourTwo. “When I was a kid, I’d watch this DVD the night before my games to inspire me. I wanted to be him, so to play with him was amazing.”
The pair would play together 36 times for Liverpool before Shelvey left the club in 2013, at which time Gerrard was well-established as one of the club’s greatest modern players.
Even after their shared time at Anfield, Shelvey was able to appreciate playing against his former idol.
“Later in my career I enjoyed playing against him as well, as it was the ultimate test,” he continues.
For Shelvey, what really separated Gerrard from his peers was the midfielder’s completeness of his game.
“He was the best and had everything: defensively, shooting and passing,” Shelvey adds.
And while playing alongside Gerrard fulfilled a childhood dream for Shelvey, their relationship extended beyond the training ground.
“When I was at Liverpool, I lived next door to him as well, and from my bathroom you could actually see into his living room, so I spent a lot of time on the toilet! [Laughs]
“He’d give me a lift into training, he was such a normal person, easy to talk to, and anything you needed he’d help you with. I can’t speak highly enough about him."
