Real Madrid's new coach Jose Mourinho is hoping to make Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard one of his first new signings, a Spanish sports newspaper said.

"Gerrard, very close to Real Madrid," headlined the sports daily Marca.

Mourinho joined Real on a four-year deal this week in the wake of leading Inter Milan to an historic treble of successes in Italy's Serie A championship, the Italian Cup and Champions League.

He replaced Manuel Pellegrini, sacked last week after a barren season having spent 250 million euros on new players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso.

The one-time Chelsea boss has said he hopes to boost the team with two wide defenders and two midfielders.

And 30-year-old England international Gerrard is now one of his priorities, Marca said.

His first choice to support Alonso in midfield was Italy's Daniele de Rossi of Roma, but the club has already said he is not for sale.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.