“I know people will be thinking: ‘What’s wrong with him? Is he skint? Is he not well?’ The truth is I’m absolutely fine. It’s just something I want to do.”

Liverpool legend Steve Nicol is talking about his decision to auction off an array of memorabilia from his trophy-laden career.

More than 50 lots will go under the hammer in London on May 14, with the most coveted items certain to be the medals the former Scotland international won during his time at Anfield between 1981 and 1994. There are also match-worn shirts for both club and country, and individual awards, including his Footballer of the Year accolade in 1989.

Steve Nicol, Peter Beardsley, Ian Rush and Ronnie Whelan line up in a defensive wall against Manchester United in 1990 (Ben Radford/Allsport/Getty Images)

Nicol has lived in the United States since he moved into coaching in the late 1990s and is a long-serving pundit for ESPN. Last year, the former New England Revolution head coach relocated from Boston to Watertown, Connecticut with his wife Eleanor, to be closer to the broadcaster’s studios. That was when the 64-year-old decided to look into selling his collection.

“When we moved house, I realised I had all this stuff just tucked away in drawers and stored in the attic,” he tells The Athletic.

“Back in the days when we lived in Liverpool, we had a snooker room with all my jerseys and medals in there. But since moving to the States 27 years ago, I’m just carried it all around with me. I’ve never had them all out on display.

“We’ve downsized and this will probably be our last move so I just didn’t see the point in moving it all from one set of drawers to another. We’ve got nowhere to put it all. We’ve got plans to upgrade some of the rooms and the money from the auction should allow us to do that. We’ll enjoy ourselves with whatever is left over.”

Three medals from Steve Nicol’s decorated career (Propstore)

Online bidding is already open via the Propstore auction house. Nicol’s three FA Cup winners’ medals from 1986, 1989 and 1992 are each expected to go for between £10,000 ($13,605) and £20,000.

His 1984 European Cup winners’ medal has an estimate of between £8,000 and £16,000, while his four league title winners’ medals are each valued at between £5,000 and £10,000.

What about the sentimental value of them, given what he achieved at Liverpool?

Bob Paisley signed Nicol from Scottish club Ayr United for a fee of £300,000 in 1981. The full-back went from working on a building site and playing football part-time to scaling remarkable heights on Merseyside as he clocked up 468 appearances and scored 46 goals across 13 years. He played for Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Roy Evans.

“I don’t need to actually keep these things in order to relive what I was able to achieve as a player,” Nicol explains.

“I am constantly reminded. All the finals, all the trophies, these things are in my head every day. I don’t need to look at caps, medals, jerseys and awards.

“It’s like when the Hillsborough anniversary comes around each April and people say it must be on my mind. The truth is, it’s on my mind all the time. I’m still in touch with people I met in the aftermath of Hillsborough. It never leaves you.”

Kenny Dalglish, Steve Nicol and Craig Johnston on the open bus parade after Liverpool’s league and FA Cup double in 1986 (Simon Miles/Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive)

As well as his match-worn shirt from the emotion-fuelled 1989 FA Cup final triumph over Everton, there are also Liverpool jerseys worn by Sammy Lee, Peter Beardsley, John Aldridge, Rob Jones and Jamie Redknapp, as well as Scotland shirts worn by Billy Liddell and Ian St John.

Nicol spent nearly a decade in charge of New England Revolution, winning the US Open Cup in 2007, and there’s a shirt from the 2008 MLS All-Star Game signed by David Beckham and Landon Donovan among others.

His son Michael, 42, who lives in Philadelphia, and Boston-based daughter Katy, 40, are both supportive of his decision to sell most of his memorabilia rather than keeping it in the family for his four grandkids.

“Yeah, they’re both fine with it,” Nicol says. “They already have some stuff. My son has got my hat-trick ball (from when Liverpool beat Newcastle United 4-1 in September 1987) and my daughter has got one of my (Scotland) caps.

“I hope some collectors will find a good home for what’s being auctioned off. I hope they get a lot of pleasure from it. The medals should be on display. That’s much better than me sticking them in the attic for someone else to sort out after Eleanor and I have popped our clogs.”

Steve Nicol’s title winning medals and shirts are up for sale (Propstore)

Nicol is about to embark on the 30-minute drive from Watertown to the ESPN studios in Bristol. He’s there four days a week as part of their panel debating the big talking points from the Premier League and the Champions League.

“It’s a fantastic job. I can’t really call it work,” he says. “I joined after I got the bullet from the Revs in 2011 and I’ve been there ever since.”

The Scotsman doesn’t pull any punches about Liverpool’s season of underachievement. Would he keep faith with head coach Arne Slot this summer if, as expected, Champions League qualification is secured?

“It’s a tough one,” he adds. “To strengthen that squad to the point they’re capable of challenging for the Premier League and the Champions League next season, you’re talking about needing to spend another £300million.

“The dilemma for the owners has to be that they gave him £400m to spend last summer and he didn’t do a very good job with it. Do you trust the guy enough to give him another £300m?

“Winning the title last season would normally give him enough credit in the bank for the following year, but it’s been torture watching them at times this season. A lot of the goodwill he built up has been lost.

“You can spin it certain ways. You can point to new players needing time to settle in, you can point to injuries, but it’s not been good enough. Only two players have done themselves justice this season — Hugo Ekitike and Dominik Szoboszlai. Everyone else has been bang average.”