Chelsea have confirmed they are interested in signing Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard.

The Anfield captain is rated at £35m there has been speculation in recent days that he has already agreed to join Chelsea.

“Gerrard is one of the best and were it possible we’d be extremely interested,” said chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Meanwhile, new Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho told BBC: “If he comes, I’ll welcome him with open arms. If he doesn’t, I’ll admire him anyway.”

“I don’t know the distance between the dream and reality.”

Kenyon also noted the partnership between Gerrard and England team mate Chelsea’s Frank Lampard. .

“It’s great to see how Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard and Steven have played together and Steven certainly comes into the Lampard class,” said Kenyon

Chelsea have also been linked with a move for Everton’s Wayne Rooney, but the Kenyon denies making a formal approach for the England striker.

“Rooney’s been the talk of the tournament. He’s been incredible, particularly coming off a fairly average season,” said Kenyon.

“But there’s so much speculation, and if we started reacting to all the speculation we would literally do nothing else.”