Arsenal hero Paul Merson says Steven Gerrard should leave Liverpool immediately.

Merson wrote in the Daily Star: "Don't turn this season into a farewell tour. The MLS starts soon. If he's going there he should go there now.

"He's one of my favourite players, and he's been one of the best players of the last 15 years. There was a time when I genuinely think he was the best player in the world.

"But it's going to become a farce because he probably won't play much now. Who wants to see Steven Gerrard sitting on the bench?

"Now that we know he's going, Brendan Rodgers will start looking to the future, and rightly so.

"Liverpool won't be in the title race at the end of the season, so he might only play once or twice in the last nine or 10 games because Rodgers will want to have a look at other players.

"It should end now for me. Don't drag it out. No-one wants to see Gerrard coming on just for a round of applause at the end of every game."