It has been reported the new four-year deal will be worth £120,000 a week. But the word from Athens where Liverpool’s hierarchy, including chief executive Rick Parry, were today attending planning meetings with UEFA over the Champions League final with AC Milan on May 23, was that final details on the deal have not been concluded.

Gerrard told the club’s website, www.liverpoolfc.tv, the process is running smoothly, particularly after new co-owner Tom Hicks said in the aftermath of Tuesday’s semi-final win over Chelsea: “I cannot see Steven Gerrard playing for another club.”

The 26-year-old said: “Tom Hicks has said he cannot see me playing for another club, and yes, I’m in talks to extend my contract at Liverpool and I’ve never been happier with my football.

“I’d love nothing better than to get this contract sorted and signed, so I can understand where he’s coming from.

“We need to keep all of our big players here so it’s very important we get the contracts sorted out so they can be here for a long time.”

And Gerrard has also revealed that he is surprised that AC Milan will be Liverpool’s final opponents in Greece.

He said: “I’m confident we can go to Athens and bring the cup back home.

“But Milan are a fantastic team and we know it’s going to be really difficult, so we need to be right at the top of our game.

“I was really surprised actually that they won their semi-final because I had confidence that Manchester United would get the result they required.

“I thought it was going to be a Liverpool-Manchester United final, but credit to Milan because they were excellent on the night and deserved to win the game.”

Gerrard could well be rested again by boss Rafael Benitez for tomorrow’s trip to Fulham, and the Anfield skipper already has his sights set on stopping Milan gain revenge for their defeat in Istanbul two years ago.

He said: “Now I am sure Milan will want to make amends for 2005 because I’m sure Istanbul hurt them. They have a chance for revenge now but me and the boys are going to be ready for that and we’re looking forward to it.

“They have some quality players like Gattuso who work really hard for the team but we’ll be ready for them on the night. I’m confident we can beat them.

“Obviously I’m very excited. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet and probably won’t until we set off for Athens, and we have got a couple of domestic games first before we start our preparations for the big final.

“But we’ve got nothing to fear from Milan, we’ve been there and done it before. We’ve got a fantastic team spirit, the team is playing really well in Europe and we’ve got one of the best managers in the world so we have every confidence that we can do it.

“Rafa’s CV speaks for itself, and I don’t have to tell you how good he is. There’s no getting away from it, he’s one of the best managers out there. We’re just lucky and grateful that he’s here and that he’s our manager.

“We’re aware of Milan’s strengths and weaknesses and we’ll watch a lot of tapes before the game to make sure our preparations are spot on.

“We’ll go there and try to be really strong defensively like we have been in Europe. They have got top players but then so have we so there’s every chance we can go there and win.”