Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has advised the Reds to extend Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson's stay at Anfield "before it is too late".
The 34-year-old recently shocked everyone at Liverpool by announcing that he would be leaving the club and joining MLS side LA Galaxy after the end of this season.
Although the former England captain was offered a new contract by the Merseyside club in November, he turned it down saying that Liverpool approached him too late.
And now Gerrard feels that the same thing is going to happen to Henderson and Sterling, whose current contracts at Anfield are set to expire in the summer 2016 and 2017 respectively, if the club do not offer them a new contract soon.
"They need to sign [Sterling] now," Gerrard said in an interview with Sky Sports. "He knows what I want him to do. Not just him, Jordan Henderson as well."
The midfielder feels that Liverpool's earlier policy of extending a player's contract when he reached the final two years of his existing deals was good, as it prevented "worrying or panic."
However, Gerrard says that he is now worried about players prematurely leaving the club due to the club not offering them extensions on time.
"When I was coming through at Liverpool, every time you got within a couple of years left your contract would be renewed and there would be no worrying or panic stage but I see Henderson with a year left and I see Sterling - it is in the paper too much - and I know there is no smoke without fire."
"So, for me, the message to the club is to get these done sharpish because these are the future of the club and I want to watch this team do well, in cup finals and challenging for the league."
Liverpool have already managed to successfully extend the contracts of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, and Gerrard feels that they should do the same for Sterling and Henderson before "it is too late."
"Those players, Sterling, Henderson - Coutinho and Sturridge who just signed up - they are the ones who are going to deliver so it's vital they get them done before it is too late," warned Gerrard.
