Gerrard will not block Ejaria exit

going to try and find out during the conversations. At times, he has looked fantastic but I think his form has dipped slightly in the last couple of days, so I need to find out.

‘Ovie is a very quiet kid, he doesn’t give you much. I might have to dig deep to try and find out what’s going on. He’s a young kid, he’s living away from his family. There might be other stuff going on in his life that I’m not aware of yet.

‘The reality is he’s a Liverpool player and Liverpool have almost got to take charge of this.

‘Yes, we’ve got a loan situation with Ovie but we wouldn’t keep a kid who was unhappy. I wouldn’t stand in any kid’s way whether he was signed with us or on loan.

‘I want players here who are committed and want to help and want to play here.’

It has been suggested that part of Ejaria’s problem is a disillusionment with the physical nature of Scottish football.

‘I don’t know, I’ll ask him that question but I need to find out exactly what’s in his head,’ said Gerrard.

‘Where does he want to be and where does he want to play his football? Then I’ll speak to Liverpool and together we’ll make the right decision for the kid.’ Sadiq’s situation was far more clear-cut. The 21-year-old forward made just four firstteam appearances — the last in October’s Betfred Cup semi-final defeat to Aberdeen — having fallen well below expectations. ‘He’s gone back to Roma,’ confirmed Gerrard. ‘That one hasn’t worked out.’

Those loan issues will not, however, radically alter the Ibrox manager’s plans for the January transfer window.

Gerrard spoke of a desire for reinforcements at the club after exiting the Europa League with defeat to Rapid Vienna on Thursday evening.

But he is sticking by a wish for quality over quantity, with a focus on strengthening the midfield and forward areas. ‘I don’t think we need drastic changes in the next window,’ he said. ‘I think it’s more important to get some help in terms of quality. We need to add more quality to the current players. They need help in the dressing room in certain areas of the pitch. ‘January is a complicated window. A lot of teams don’t want to let players go, inflation comes to prices because they know what you are looking for and they own it. It’s very difficult. ‘But the next two windows are very important for us as a team, I’m very aware of that.’ One midfield solution could be a move to bring Steven Davis back to Ibrox from Southampton. And centreback Gareth McAuley believes that his Northern Ireland team-mate would be an ideal addition. ‘I don’t know if it’s on the cards, but he’s certainly the player who has been here before, who has captained the club and knows what it’s about,’ said McAuley. ‘The last time I spoke to Steven was at the last international game. He was keeping his cards close to his chest. ‘I know he’s frustrated that he’s not playing football and, if the opportunity is there for him and things are right with Southampton, then I’m sure that he would love to (come back). ‘It’s an amazing club. I can’t think of anywhere better to play.’