Having signed the pre-contract with Real Madrid, McManaman still had five months left on his contract at Liverpool. New manager Gérard Houllier, who had replaced Evans as full coach following the failure of their joint-managerial role that very season, was widely believed to want to get rid of the "Spice Boys" mentality and cavalier attitudes at the club, having told many players they were surplus to requirements (including Jason McAteer, Phil Babb, Rob Jones, Stig Bjornebye, David James and Paul Ince), and where there were exits for seventeen other players who would leave the club in the next year ahead. While stating that he would have preferred that the player stayed, he said that the club had to respect McManaman's decision to exercise his right to leave at the end of his contract and conceded that he would have to replace the player, ultimately stating that McManaman's departure was inevitable and the only chance of keeping him would be if he (McManaman) decided to sign a 12-month contract extension having failed to secure a move to the club of his choice, saying: "If I was the manager of Real Madrid – or Barcelona or any leading club – I would want to have Steve McManaman in my side," he said.