Ex-Liverpool player claims Steven Gerrard was 'scared' of him and asked him for his shirt on his first day

Former Liverpool star El Hadji Diouf previously slammed Steven Gerrard and accused the Anfield legend of being 'afraid' of him.

Diouf spent two seasons at Liverpool and came to blows with the club captain throughout his time at the club which saw him score three Premier League goals.

The Senegalese striker scored twice on his first appearance for Liverpool, but that was about as good as it got, with the forward eventually leaving the club for Sunderland following a loan spell.

Diouf was very public with his issues with Gerrard and shockingly tore into the club captain after he announced he would be retiring from football.

"When I arrived, I showed him that he was nothing," he told SFR Sport in 2016 via Goal.

"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," he added.

Diouf even claimed the England international was scared of him due to his presence in the dressing room, as well as revealing Gerrard asked for his shirt when he joined the club in 2002.

He continued: "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.

Steven Gerrard and El Hadji Diouf battling in 2010 during Blackburn Rovers vs Liverpool- Getty

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

Gerrard addressed his issues with the former Liverpool striker in his 2015 autobiography and argued it was Diouf's lack of commitment that resulted in their clashes.

He wrote: “It seemed to me, Diouf did not care about football and about Liverpool.”