Liverpool defender Kolo Toure hopeful of signing new contract

Liverpool defender Kolo Toure is optimistic he will sign a new contract at Anfield despite initial fears he would become the third player to leave Merseyside on a free transfer this summer.

Captain Steven Gerrard is expected to be followed out of the door by Glen Johnson as Brendan Rodgers clears the decks of those players out of contract.

Toure, who will turn 35 before the start of the 2015/16 season, has made 12 Premier League appearances for Liverpool this term.

"I think the situation will be resolved soon," he told reporters after the 6-1 defeat to Stoke City which saw the Reds finish sixth. "We are talking. There are few things more but we will see.

"Liverpool is a great club for me to stay at. Liverpool is going to be massive. I love Premier League football and I played all my years here and if I can finish here [at Liverpool] it would be great.

"I play for Liverpool right now and I am very happy and if it was to carry on, I'd be more than happy."

After 17 seasons with boyhood club Liverpool, Gerrard became the first player whose deal was due to expire in the summer to confirm his departure from the club, a move many former players have criticised.

Johnson, 30, is also out of contract in the summer and has been heavily linked with a move abroad after spells at West Ham United, Chelsea and Portsmouth, while the player is not expecting to be offered fresh terms.

And the England international all-but confirmed his intention to leave the club when he wrote on Twitter before the defeat at the Britannia Stadium: "A big thank you to all the people out there who have genuinely supported me through the last 6 years #200 #NewChapter,"