Derby County will try to tempt Steven Gerrard away from Rangers with an offer of an £8million bonus if he leads the Rams to the Premier League.
Record Sport understands Gerrard is Derby’s first choice to replace Frank Lampard who is expected to be appointed Chelsea boss this week.
Derby must wait until compensation for Lampard is agreed before making their move for the Ibrox manager.
Rams owner and chairman, Mel Morris, is determined to bring in a high-profile young coach to continue the work of Lampard last season.
And Derby County are prepared to offer Gerrard the same £8m bonus for promotion that Lampard would have pocketed had they beaten Aston Villa in the Championship playoff final.
The former Liverpool captain could also expect to earn a salary of around £2.5m a year at Pride Park with the opportunity of proving himself by taking Derby to the richest league in the world.
Gerrard has never hidden his ambition to one day manage at Anfield and accruing experience outside of the SPFL would strengthen his hand to succeed Jurgen Klopp.
But it is understood the 39-year-old is happy at Rangers and is determined to secure silverware for the success-starved club.
But the English side are ready to test his resolve and it’s believed Derby – who are holding out for around £7m in compensation from Chelsea for Lampard and his coaching staff – are prepared to spend some of that money on securing Gerrard’s release.
Morris, who has put the club for sale, is determined to replace Lampard with a similar star name in order to make the club more attractive to prospective buyers.
A report last week claimed Rangers had been approached over Gerrard but the Ibrox club dismissed the assertion.
