Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt signed two-year contract extensions today with the Liverpool skipper's deal believed to be worth around £150,000-a-week.

Gerrard, 29, has admitted he wants to spend the rest of his career at Anfield and, having secured a £40,000-a-week pay rise, the midfielder will now be tied to the club until at least 2013.

Striker Kuyt, 28, was due to be out of contract at the end of next season and Rafael Benitez is delighted to have secured the futures of both players, a fortnight after he himself signed a new contract.

“This is fantastic news for the club,” said the manager. “Steven has again shown his commitment and it was an easy deal to agree. As soon as we offered him the option he said yes.

“He wants to stay for life. This deal sends out another clear message that we are moving forward as a club. To know we have a player of Steven's quality with us for many more years is a great boost for the club and fans.

“He is clearly a player who inspires those around him and, even though he is playing very well at the moment, I still think his best years are ahead of him.

“Dirk is a player with great quality who has a big part to play in our future. “To have announced new deals for Steven and Dirk on the same day shows how hard everyone is working and that we are moving forward quickly as a club. These are very positive messages.”

News of the contracts for Gerrard came shortly before he appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to plead not guilty to affray. He is accused of being part of a group that injured businessman Marcus McGee, 34, at the Lounge Inn, Southport, in the early hours of 29 December last year.

Tomorrow Gerrard and his team will go to Fulham, where a victory will put them top of the table as Manchester United do not play Aston Villa until Sunday.

The reigning champions lost 2-0 at Craven Cottage in their last game but Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is not getting carried away. He said: “We've got to be careful that we don't start raising expectations so high that, like a balloon, we're going to blow and blow and blow and instead of the balloon getting bigger, it might just burst on us.”

However, Hodgson added: “We beat Manchester United and the people at Liverpool know they'll have to perform well to get a result.”