Steven Gerrard has offered the first public indication that he will reject Chelsea to remain at Liverpool after helping the Merseysiders to a place in the Champions League final at his suitors' expense.

The England midfielder intends to meet his manager, Rafael Benitez, and Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry at the end of the season to discuss his future. But Gerrard insisted that the progress the club has made this season already suggests they will be able to satisfy his own personal ambitions, offering yet more encouragement to fans still pinching themselves after Tuesday's 1-0 semi-final second leg win at Anfield.

"I didn't want any distractions before the game against Chelsea and it will be the same before the final, but after the Champions League final I can say I will be sitting down with Rick Parry and the gaffer and discussing the future," said Gerrard.

"That has been the situation for a while so, from that point of view, nothing has changed. But obviously a result like this helps everyone at the club and we will have a lot of positive things to talk about. I have said all along that all I wanted was to see the club going in the right direction and this victory shows we are. Now we want to go on and win the competition in Istanbul."

Parry is ready to offer the midfielder an extension and improved terms on his contract at the club in an attempt to ward off Chelsea's interest.

The player has two years of his £55,000-a-week deal to run and could be offered terms up to 2009.

"I said a couple of months ago that we were ready to talk to Stevie about a new contract any time he was," said Parry. "He has always made it clear he wants to be playing in a successful team, and that applies to all of us."

Chelsea did not make an official approach for Gerrard's services last summer, but the player was close to requesting a move to Stamford Bridge after Euro 2004, only for Benitez, in the weeks after his appointment, to persuade him to play a part in his regeneration at Anfield.

Meanwhile, Benitez is not expected to be swayed from his intention to overhaul his Liverpool squad at the end of the season despite his side's unlikely progress to the Champions League final.

The Liverpool manager was back at his desk at the club's Melwood training complex early yesterday morning planning for Sunday's Premiership trip to Arsenal, while his players enjoyed the first of two days off.

He will now instigate a clear-out from a position of strength, regardless of how the side fare in Istanbul this month.

"We never viewed his appointment as a gamble, simply because he stood for everything we were looking for last summer," said Parry.

"We knew the qualities we wanted our manager to have and he fits them all: hunger, knowledge, determination, skill. He is a top coach, but, above all, he is a winner. That is crucially important and is rubbing off on everyone."

Such glowing sentiment is shared by the players, who praised the manager's game plan which flummoxed Chelsea.

Yet a number of the squad may make their final appearance in a Liverpool shirt in the final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on May 25th.

Dietmar Hamann, Igor Biscan, Mauricio Pellegrino and Vladimir Smicer are all out of contract on July 1st, with only the first two hopeful of staying on.

The Merseysiders would also listen to offers for Milan Baros, Jerzy Dudek, Harry Kewell and Chris Kirkland of the current first-team squad.

Similarly, a clutch of players currently on loan are available for transfer, with Liverpool hopeful that interest may materialise. That could see El Hadji Diouf, Bruno Cheyrou, Salif Diao, Alou Diarra, Carl Medjani and Gregory Vignal leave.

As yet, only the Villarreal goalkeeper Jose Manuel Reina has been lined up to come in. The Spaniard is expected to join for around £5 million.